Convergent
by Mikey Jacquez
Summary: There are two sides to every story. Beatrice Prior's world is falling apart: the simulation, the plan to kill off all of the Divergent... Their society is cut off from the rest of the country which is discovered to be the land of Panem. Soon, Tris and the rest cross the fence to reach the twelve districts, in which they discover the yearly event known as The Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Tris

I wake up to a sudden chill, creeping up on my cold feet. I feel the warmth feeling of Tobias's arm around me, letting me know that he's protecting me. But I don't need protection; I can protect myself with or without him.

"You can't sleep?" I feel Tobias's warm breath against the back of my neck.

"I can sleep." I respond.

_I can't. _

I can't sleep, knowing that we're living in a lie.

"Well go to sleep, Tris." he says.

I don't answer him but I do listen to him. I close my eyes and try to go into my own little world. I picture The Hub and why we ever did rename it. I wonder how we would be if Tori didn't kill Jeanine. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. Tori thought I betrayed them and it pained my stomach badly. I remember the blade going through Jeanine's stomach, leading her to her last breaths. Even though we all wanted Jeanine dead all along, I don't like thinking of that day. After all, that's the day when Lynn died as I held her smooth hand.

_Go to sleep, Tris. Go to sleep._

Suddenly, I open my eyes in fright.

_Edith Prior._

She's one of the reasons for this. But God, she looks familiar. Why would she start this world? Why to us?

"Tobias," I move him a little. "Tobias."

He moans a little.

"Tobias!"

He jumps and almost hits me in the head with his arm.

"What do you want, Tris?" he sounds annoyed and tired. He is.

"I can't stop thinking of the video." I answer. "I can't seem to get it off my head. That's why I can't sleep. I think of the video, I think of Edith, I think Lynn, what the hell is outside of the fences and Will…"

Even though it's dark, I can see Tobias roll his dark eyes.

"Tris," he says, "calm down. We can talk about it in the morning. But for now, go to sleep for God's sake."

He turns around and positions himself to sleep.

I don't want to disturb him or his sleep. So I nicely listen to him and turn to the opposite direction and stare at the moonlight. The light hits the street so bright that I can see some of the Factionless also asleep on the ground. I feel like a Factionless because of this. But we pretty much are the Factionless now. All of us. Amity, Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, and the Erudite.

Our whole world is a lie and there's very little we can do about it. Besides, Tobias is right. It's too late to be thinking about stuff right now. We can think about it in the morning. I feel the last chill of air go through my body and I shiver a little. But I wrap myself, using my arms and finally close my eyes and see pure darkness.

Our world is darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Katniss

I stare into the wilderness and feel the breeze. It's been almost a year since Peeta and I stepped into the arena. I still can't believe that was a year ago—a year ago when Rue died, a year ago when I shot Cato, a year ago when I pulled out the nightlock berries and created this rebellion. It's all unreal, yet, believable.

I bite my lip as I take a step closer to the forest. Deep inside, I take my bow and arrow and begin sneaking through the forest. I spot a deer, and to my vision, it looks exactly like the deer I spotted a year ago.

_It is._

"Now what are you going to do with that huge thing when you kill it?" I hear Gale's voice from far behind.

I don't shoot this time; instead, I turn to look at Gale getting closer to me.

"Nothing," I say, "I was just looking at it but you had to yell and scare it off again."

Gale laughs and gives me look with his grey eyes. He still has the same straight black hair he had a year ago. He's still the same, but he's already nineteen years old. I wonder how Rory, Vick, and Posy are. I haven't seen them in a long while but I doubt I'll see them anytime soon. After all, it's almost Reaping Day again. But this year's different. It's the Quarter Quell, a special event of The Hunger Games held every twenty five years where there's a twist.

President Snow will read the envelope on live television in a few days to announce this year's Quarter Quell; the third Quarter Quell. In the first Quarter Quell, the citizens of the districts had to vote on who would compete in the Hunger Games. In the second Quarter Quell, four tributes were chosen from each district instead of the usual two to remind the rebels that for each Capitol citizen killed, two rebels died. The second Quarter Quell is the one in which Haymitch Abernathy won, using the arena's force field as a weapon.

"What do you have there?" I point at the small dirty bag Gale's carrying.

"Cheese," he says.

"Cheese?" I question, because why would he get cheese when he can trade another squirrel for a ration of bread.

"I got it from Prim's goat. I didn't have anything to trade today and I assumed you're hungry because I am." he responds.

I nod and we start for the sunlight. Today's Sunday; Gale and I's hunt. But for some reason, I don't want to hunt today. I feel awful thinking of how my mother and Prim will react when I return home with no food.

"Where's lover boy?" I don't like how Gale sounds when he asks me that.

"He's at the bakery," I answer, "Remember, we're back to our usual. You don't have to go into the arena ever, and I don't have to either. The only thing we have to worry about now is Prim, your brothers, and Posy."

I'm right. That is the only thing we have to worry about now. I take some cheese from Gale's hand and rapidly eat it, hardly tasting the flavor it offers. I look at Gale and he's staring into the woods. I wonder that he thinks. I know he thinks a lot about his family but what else does he think of beside them?

I lick my dry lips and help myself up.

"C'mon Gale," I tap on his shoulder, "We have to hurry back."

"Hold on, Catnip."

_Catnip._

He hasn't called me that in a long while. I do miss our old hunting days when we didn't have to worry about Prim, Vick, Rory, and Posy. I sure do miss those days. But those days are over.

"What are you staring at?" I ask, questioning him still staring at the forest.

"We have a lot of memories here," he says, "Remember when you shot that bird?"

I laugh and he does too. I shot a bird two years ago. The bird was flying around, revolving around a tree. I didn't really take a glimpse of what kind of bird it was because all my focus was on hitting it. I positioned my arrow and aimed it to its eye.

"C'mon." I whispered to myself before I released the arrow and saw it fly straight onto the bird's eye, letting gravity pull it down. It's been a while since I've shot a bird and ever since Rue and the mockingjays, I don't know how I can shoot another.

"Let's go," Gale stands on his feet and suddenly grabs my hand. I don't yank it off; instead, I keep it there and let his hand warm mine up. We run through the woods and pass the section where I spotted the deer. _I hope I see it again. _I don't know why but I feel a connection between me and that deer. I stomp on the ground hard, crushing the dead leaves on the ground. Gale pulls me harder and harder as we make our way up out of the forest. But we aren't too lucky ourselves, because when we reach the outside of the forest, there are about fifteen peacekeepers standing on the other side of the fence.

_This isn't good._

**NOTES: So I finished Chapter 2 last night! I'm actually gaining followers now! Thank y'all so much and please leave some reviews and tell me what you guys think! BTW, I'm creating new scenes in The Hunger Games. However, this story set after the events of Insurgent (obviously) and during the events of Catching Fire (but I'm adding to scenes!) But again, thank you guys! And please leave reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tris

Pointing my gun, directly aiming at his head, Will doesn't seem to be frightened. I take a deep breath and think of Dauntless initiation. I remember when Christina was forced to hang over the chasm and I didn't know what to do. I still don't know how I didn't help her.

"Do it, Tris." Will suddenly speaks, "Do it."

I feel a chill going down my spine when he whispered "Do it." It makes me think of the simulation—my mother, my father; everyone. I close my eyes and hold my breath in as I slowly pull the trigger, letting the loud sound sting my ears and listening to Will's body collapse on the floor.

"Tris!" I suddenly feel someone shake me hard. "Tris, get up!"

I look up at his dark eyes. Tobias.

"What is it?" I question him, sounding annoyed.

"It's her! It's her!" he grabs my shoulders. "She's on!"

"Who?" I yell at him. "And get off me!"

I push him off a little and help myself up, rubbing both of my eyes so hard that they start to burn.

"It's Edith," he says, "Edith Prior, come on, follow me."

He takes my hand and we start sprinting through the streets. I spot many of the Factionless still asleep, and some of them crawling on the floor and I guess searching for food. But all they can find are small pebbles and wrappers.

"I know you're tired but pick up the pace!" Tobias orders me.

I don't answer him but I'm too tired to run quicker. I feel like we've been running for miles, nonstop miles. I obviously didn't get enough sleep last night as my mind wouldn't let me. I'm surprised I actually did fall asleep because I couldn't stop thinking of everything.

We turn left and right through many paths, passing more Factionless people. When I see each one of them, I remember the day when I gave my apple slices to a fellow Factionless man. That was when I was selfless. But I'm not selfless or selfish. I'm Divergent, I'm different.

Just a few yards away, I spot Christina staring at a large screen, hanging from the top of two thick poles. I run harder until we finally reach her.

"Christina!" I shout and release Tobias's hand. "Christina!"

She doesn't turn around but keeps looking at the screen. I look up and see her.

Edith Prior.

Everyone's gaze is at her, including mine, my full gaze.

"Attention fellow Faction citizens," Edith says, "As I recall, many of you have seen the video presentation we demonstrated a few days ago and we wanted to inform each and every one of you that tomorrow, we will have a ceremony."

Everyone shatters into whispers.

_Ceremony._

The only ceremony we ever have is the Choosing Ceremony, and there's nothing that can be bigger than that. However, I don't know if there ever will be another Choosing Ceremony soon.

"That's right, a ceremony that we've never done before," Edith continues, "It's our first ever Grand Opening World Ceremony."

_Grand Opening World Ceremony?_ What does that even mean?

I turn to look at Tobias and his hand meets mine. My blue eyes connect to his dark eyes. I know what he's thinking. I know what everyone's thinking.

"What we will do in this special ceremony," Edith continues, "We will gather everyone up, except for the Factionless, and head for the fences where we will destroy them, thus opening to our new world."

This is what I've been waiting for, basically what everyone's been waiting for. I wonder what we'll see in our new world. Will it be broken like ours? Will it be peaceful but not like the Amity? Will there be selfless people? Honest? Brave? Divergent?

I bite my lip when I think of what Edith said about excluding the Factionless from attending the ceremony. Why are they not allowed to attend?

"I expect all of you attend, it is required. Whoever is left behind, will be identified as a Factionless member and be forced to stay. Thank you and enjoy yourselves while y'all can." the screen goes blank and shouting begins again.

I squeeze Tobias's hand and grab Christina's. She yanks it off.

"Come with us!" I yell at her. "Please!"

She shakes her head and begins dashing the other way.

"Chrstina!" I yell, knowing she'll keep running.

I sigh and close my eyes for a moment. I can't lose Christina, not now. I can't lose anyone right now. Without everyone, I'm nobody. Tobias and I start running to the opposite direction. Maybe Christina knows what she's doing. I squeeze Tobias's hand even harder and pull him faster.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"Abnegation!" I respond and step harder on the ground.

It doesn't take us long to reach Abnegation headquarters. I spot the replicated houses next to each other and I somehow know which one's my original home.

"Let's go to your house!" I tell Tobias and he nods.

As we reach his house, we both storm in and I spot Uriah lying on the floor.

"Uriah!" I shout and he jumps awake.

"Tris! Four! You guys are here!" he responds. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Uriah," I sit next to him, "We have to stay here until tomorrow morning."

"Why?" he questions.

"You remember Edith? Edith Prior?" I ask.

He nods. "Is she related to you or something?"

"I don't know." I shrug. "But anyway, she said we have to attend a ceremony at the fences tomorrow morning because if we don't show up, we will become Factionless."

"But we're Divergent," he says, "Did she say anything about the Divergent?"

I shake my head.

"Well, I guess we're going to have to wait here or should I go back to the Dauntless compound?"

Uriah is a Dauntless-born but I don't think they'll notice. As long as we attend the ceremony, we're safe.

"Just stay here with us," Tobias says. "The three of us are Divergent and we need to stick together."

I kiss Tobias's cheek and head for the bathroom upstairs. Tobias and Uriah haven't been together since the day when Tori killed Jeanine. I wonder how both of them can work together to conquer things. I wonder how the three of us can. I turn the water faucet on and begin rinsing my face, letting the cold water run down my face. I haven't felt water in a long time and I enjoy the feeling of it. I look over to my right and the tub.

_Shower._

I don't hesitate; I rapidly remove my clothes and start the shower. I love the nice feeling of the water running down my fully naked body. I haven't felt this in a while and I finally feel clean. I run my fingers down my short hair and feel some of the water run inside my mouth. I love the feeling of it. This is what I needed, and maybe Tobias and Uriah need it too.

After I shower, I put the same clothes I had on again, obviously because I have nothing else to wear, and walk back downstairs. Uriah and Tobias are sitting down, talking about God knows what.

"We're a team now, Tris." Uriah says.

"Yeah." Tobias replies.

I don't say anything but smile because we are a team. We're Divergent. We can't and will not be controlled. I don't know what Edith Prior will do but she cannot control us.

She cannot control the Divergent.

And she will not control _me._

**NOTES: Woo! This chapter sure took me a while. I hope you guys are liking it and a special shoutout to "Juliet's Shadow" for being my first reviewer! Thank you so much, you're the best! And I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I really hope all of you guys are enjoying it. Please leave reviews and tell me what y'all think! Thank y'all! Chapter 4 will be up soon! (Maybe tomorrow!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Katniss

My heart beats faster, my lungs are about to burst. I'm running out of air, and I'm not sure if Gale feels the same way. He probably does. I think of Prim and my mother.

_They're going to hurt them. They're going to kill them._

I bite my lip and look at Gale. _It's over. _We're both thinking the same thing. When you're inside a cage with a dozen bears surrounding you, you don't know what to do but you know that you're trapped and dead. That's how I'm feeling right now.

The fifteen peacekeepers stare at us, take their guns, and do what I know is coming toward us. They point at us.

"Step inside! Or else, we fire!" one peacekeeper orders us.

We don't hesitate. We start for the fence and quickly get in, letting the peacekeepers know that the fence is not electrified. I'll never be able to get out, be able to hunt, or maybe never be able to see Gale, Prim or my mother again.

"How long have y'all been escaped?" the same peacekeeper asks, he stands in the middle of the other peacekeepers.

"We never escaped," Gale says, "We only get out for an hour or two and hunt."

"So illegal hunting, huh?" the peacekeeper reacts.

"Yes," Gale replies, "We're both really sorry."

They're still pointing their guns at us. I look up at the cloudless blue sky and think of Prim's blue eyes and how they will produce plenty of tears when she sees me.

The peacekeeper then looks at me.

"And why are you hunting illegally?" he asks me.

_I have a family to protect and provide for._

"I thought it would be fun," I say, "I've been doing it for quite a while."

I don't want to get Gale in even more trouble. So I lie to them about certain things: when we began hunting, I tell them we started hunting only a month ago. I don't tell them about my mother or Prim.

"You two are in deep trouble," the peacekeeper says, "We are allowed to shoot you two down now, but the Mayor needs to hear from the two of you."

_The Mayor. Mayor Undersee. _He won't kill us, he'll demand for them not to kill us. I am the winner of the 74th Hunger Games, along with Peeta. They can't kill us. They can't. But I know they will.

_Peeta._

I bite my lip when I think of him. _They will probably kill him. _I can't let that happen! He helped me in the arena and when I was nearly dying. I can't let him die when he saved my life.

"Katniss!" I suddenly hear a loud cry echoing from not far behind the peacekeepers.

I catch a glimpse of the small and thin girl with her blond braid down her back running towards us.

"Katniss!" she screams again.

My lips form her name and as I take a small step forward, two peacekeepers rush over to her and each one clutch each of her tiny arms, lifting her.

"Katniss, no!" she squeals harder.

The rest of the peacekeepers hold both Gale and I back but I try my hardest to get past them. They're too strong.

"Prim!" I yell. "Prim!"

All I can hear is her squeal and the sound of her small body hitting the ground hard. That's when my body stiffens. I push my body against the peacekeepers, hoping to throw some of them down but I don't succeed. That's when I see another peacekeeper running towards us from the far end.

_Romulus Thread. _Our new head Peacekeeper. I take a glimpse of his close shaved grey hair and grey eyes when he eyes me viciously. However, he's not coming towards me and Gale, he's going after Prim.

I let out a cry when he takes his whip and swings in the air, letting it fly straight towards Prim.

All I can hear is the sound of the whip smacking Prim's body and Prim's loud shriek.

"No!" I finally manage to push the peacekeeper in front of me, "No! Stop!"

I dash towards Prim and that's when my face meets the knuckles of one of the two peacekeepers who slammed Prim to the ground.

Pain spreads through my whole body; especially my head, stinging everywhere and letting my body fall hard on the ground. I can't feel the wind anymore, or the ground. My whole body feels numb but I can somehow still see and hear. I hear Prim screeching and see Thread stamping his whip on her face.

I see Gale hitting the floor and letting his blood flow out of his mouth and nose. I hear many voices around me gasping and my mother's cry from far beyond. I don't hear Prim's cry anymore, or the whip hitting her. But I do hear the whip striking another body, and another body, and another body. I hear lots of screams now. I'm not the girl on fire. I'm not on fire.

I'm burning.

**NOTES: Chapter 4! This was actually kind of hard for me to write. I can't stand it when that kind of stuff happens but it does. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying it and thank you so much "Juliet's Shadow"! I'm glad you're loving it! I'm loving your story too! Chapter 5 will be updated shortly after, so leave some reviews and tell me what y'all think! Thank you guys, again! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Tris

I'm the only in Tobias's old bedroom when I hear someone bang on the front door downstairs. Uriah and Tobias must have fell asleep in the living room, but maybe either of them fell asleep in Marcus's and Evelyn's old bedroom.

I rub my eyes hard and rapidly rush out of the room and head downstairs. Marcus is standing in front of the doorway.

"What do you want?" Tobias asks him.

"Whoa easy there," Marcus replies, "I'm going around all of the houses and informing everyone to run to the fences by eight 'o clock. If neither of you are there by then, I'm afraid you guys will become Factionless and will be forced to stay here."

I bite my lip.

"Why can't the Factionless go to the ceremony?" I blurt out. "Why do they have to stay here anyway?"

"That information is top secret," Marcus responds. "Besides, be grateful that you're not Factionless. Be grateful that you get to attend the ceremony. Now hurry on up. I have plenty more houses to go to."

Before any of us can say anything else, he rushes out of the house.

I swallow a ration of my spit and look at both Tobias and Uriah. Both of them don't look nervous at all or seem to have a worried look. Unlike me, I'm worried about the Factionless. _What's their fate?_

"Why do you guys think the Factionless can't go?" I ask them.

Both of them shrug. "I don't know, Tris." Uriah says.

"Yeah," Tobias agrees, "But I don't really care."

I glare at Tobias and Evelyn quickly pops into my mind. I know Evelyn is selfish but she's still his mother. My parents died for me, and I'm not sure if Marcus would, but I know that Evelyn would sacrifice herself for her own son.

"Tobias," I snap, "You mean you don't care about your own mother?"

He shakes his head.

"She used me, Tris, she used me."

"Maybe she wanted the best for you."

"God, you're an idiot, Tris."

I turn to look at Uriah and he appears to be annoyed. I would too. But I know that now's not the time to be arguing; it's time to think. It's time to do something new, and we are about to do something that we thought would never happen.

"Come on guys," Uriah says, "We only have a couple of minutes to get to the ceremony."

Tobias takes a look at him then back at me. I know the stare he's giving me with his dark eyes. He's telling me to agree with Uriah and I won't refuse. I may be Divergent, I may not be controlled by others, but I am controlled by the love and passion of my closest ones.

"Let's go." I tell both of them. "We're running out of time."

Tobias takes my right hand and I squeeze it. I let him know that I'm with him through thick and thin. We're all in this together: Tobias, Uriah, and I. We all rush out of the doorway and quickly sprint out of Abnegation headquarters. It doesn't take us long to reach the gate of the fences. But we have to rush in order to not slow down by the crowd of all of the other people from the rest of the factions running.

"Excuse me!" the three of us gently push some of the people out of our way. "Excuse us!"

The fences aren't too far away now. We're only a few yards away—thank God it's not miles. I bite my lip when I notice all of the people already standing and waiting there. I lost my watch somewhere so I don't know if we're going to make it or not.

_We will._

"Take my hand!" I hold out my hand to Uriah, because he seems to be slowing down a little bit. He doesn't respond but takes me hand and now it's Tobias, Uriah, and I connected. Three Divergents connected.

My heart is pounding when we finally reach the gate. But we're in line for it, waiting to sign in at a booth, although the line's not too long. We're only five people behind while there's probably hundreds behind us. I take a glance at the huge clock hanging on top of the gate and read the time _7:51. _

_We made it._

"Name?" a thin blond asks Tobias when we reach the booth. She's wearing a blue dress and wears glasses.

She's an Erudite.

"Tobias Eaton." says Tobias as the lady writes his name on her clipboard.

"Age?" she adds.

"Eighteen."

"What's your Faction?"

""Dauntless."

That's the last question she asks before she says, "Next." I see Tobias walk slowly and stop to wait for me and Uriah. He doesn't have to wait long though. She asks the same thing to Uriah and he quickly manages to stand next to Tobias.

Now it's my turn.

"Name?"

"Tris Prior."

"Age?"

"Sixteen."

"What's your Faction?"

I bite my lip and think of Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. I'm selfless at sometimes, but at other times, I'm intelligent but not too intelligent. And at other times, I'm selfish and brave.

"Divergent." I say and notice the odd look in her face. She doesn't write that though. Instead, she writes down my real Faction. Dauntless. She obviously writes down the right Faction, judging by what I'm wearing.

"Next!" she yells and I quickly reach Uriah and Tobias. I notice the look on their face they're giving me which isn't a good one.

"Why'd you take long?" asks Tobias, raising his eyebrow.

"I didn't." I say and walk to the Dauntless section of people. There aren't too many Dauntless here or Abnegation. There are mostly Erudite and Candor people. I look all over the crowd and don't spot Christina. But I know she's here. She's small so obviously I won't spot her. But I do spot Peter. I don't want to look at him. I don't want to be near him. I don't want anything to do with him. But it's too late to hide.

"Stiff!" he yells, "I was expecting you to be here."

I enfold my arms across my chest and glare at him.

"Whoa," he responds, "Your face is ugly enough; don't make it uglier by giving me those looks."

Before I can say anything, he rushes off and heads toward the front of the crowd. I don't want to deal with him. I don't have time.

"You're not ugly, Tris," says Uriah, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Don't listen to him."

"Thanks," I say and look at the clock. _8:00 _exactly.

"Welcome!" a lady taps on the microphone and stands in front of the crowds—right in front of the gate. "Thank you all for attending. I'm Diana McQueen and I just want to say one thing."

She clears her throat.

"Edith Prior!"

My eyes widen when she walks in front of the microphone and shakes Diana's hand. _She's here._

"Thank y'all!" she thanks the applauding crowd, coming especially from the crowd of the Erudite. "Thank y'all!"

None of the Dauntless crowd applauses. I turn to look at the Abnegation crowd and only a few people clap.

"Now," Edith continues, "It is such an honor to be the host of this first annual Grand Opening World Ceremony. We will not do this for another hundred years! But I mean, by then, I won't be alive ha-ha."

The whole crowd of Erudite laugh with her.

"But that means that the next Prior will take my place as host."

When she says that, I swear I feel my heart stop. _The next Prior. _My parents are dead which only leaves to Caleb and I. But in a hundred years, we won't be alive either and I don't want my children, if I do have children, to take this "tradition".

"Now before we open up the gate, I want all of us to take a minute of a moment of silence." she bows her head down and so do the rest of us, including me, Uriah, and Tobias. The minute seems to go by forever. I take a close glimpse of the Erudite and notice that they're not bowing their heads down. However, they stand there like statues with no word coming from there mouth. I suddenly spot Caleb as he makes quick eye contact with me. I see the guilty look in his eye when he quickly looks away and moves next to a taller man.

"Thank you." Edith whispers as the minute passes by. I guess the moment of silence was respect for all of the people who died many years behind. This is the reason why we were enclosed, so we won't have any idea of what's happening around us. I understand why Jeanine wanted us to be brainwashed, but she knew about all of this.

"Now let the official opening of the gate, begin!" Edith raises both of her hands and looks up at the cloudy sky. Shouting commences around us but the Abnegation crowd is the only one where there's no shouting or anything. They stand there with a vexed look on their face and I catch a sight of Marcus. He doesn't look happy either. After I turn back to the front, my hand meets Tobias's again. My eye focuses on the view of the gate making a loud noise as the two main enclosing walls drift away from one another, breaking large portions of stone one by one until there are no walls covering the outside. The shouting stops. My hand releases Tobias's. Everyone's jaw is on the ground. I feel the urge to scream.

This is by far worse than war. This isn't just war. It's not just a revolution. This is like our world but worse. These people don't seem to be brainwashed. From not too far is a city or town. But there's chaos and it doesn't seem to stop.

Everyone in the ceremony is quiet but that's when we start for the outside of the fence and shout once again.

**NOTES: Sorry I took long to post this chapter! I haven't wrote in a while; I mean I started right after I had posted Chapter 4 but I never got back to it until last night. But by the way, if you're a little confused about the ending of this chapter, because of my rushed and bad writing, I'll tell you what happened in my "own" words. So when they opened up the gate, they discovered Panem; however, they don't know it's Panem: the city or town that they saw is District 6, and that's what they're running at. So yeah... Sorry if I discombobulated any of you. But thank all of y'all, and a special thanks to my 2 or 3 followers! Please review this story and state your honest opinions to me! I am working on Chapter 6 right now so it'll be here in no time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Katniss

My head feels like it's spinning and won't seem to stop for another hour or so. I look at the bed next to me on my right and see Gale with his eyes closed and both of his hands on his stomach. I see his cracked lips and the dry blood all over around his mouth and think: _he didn't have to try to help Prim and I._

I turn to my left and see Prim with nothing else all over her face and arms but bruises and cuts with dry blood spread all over. I should be the one with bruises all over my body. I should be the one with blood all over my body. I should be in both Prim's and Gale's position combined. This is all my fault.

I shut my eyes when I suddenly feel a warm hand touch my arm. The hand feels smooth but a little dried up.

"Katniss?" his familiar voice says. I know who this is. I know whose hand it belongs to and why it's dried up. It's dried up because of all the flour he's been working with at the bakery.

I open my eyes and see his blue eyes, and his blond hair that waves over his forehead. Peeta.

"Are you okay?" he asks and takes my hand. I quickly release it but he still touches my arm. My head still stings from the punch one the peacekeepers delivered to me. I deserved that swing to my face.

"Look Katniss, I know we agreed we wouldn't talk to each other after the Games and the Victory Tour but that doesn't mean my caring for you has to stop."

I look at him again and yank my arm off. I feel like a huge sack of flour is being weighted inside my head. The pain strikes every single part of my body when I get up.

"Wait Katniss," Peeta puts both of his hands on my shoulders. "You need to stay in bed."

"Don't touch me," I take his hands off. "I don't need your pity."

"I'm not pitying you," he protests. "I just don't want you to get hurt again, or Gale or Prim."

"Don't lie to me," I say, "You know I hate it when people lie to me… even though I lie a lot too."

I stand on my feet and that's when I feel like my head exploded. The pain travels in a circular motion and I feel like sharp objects plug into the edges of my head. I groan and let my body fall, almost landing on my head.

"Katniss!" Peeta jumps over the small bed and holds my head, increasing my pain even more.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I press my hand against my head as Peeta wraps his arms around me.

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay, it'll be okay," says Peeta and he somehow seems to be comforting me.

His eyes meet mine and I suddenly can't feel the pain. The pain has suddenly disappeared for a moment. I touch Peeta's broad shoulders and he touches my cheek, sliding his hand smoothly down to my neck. I close my eyes and think of the arena when we kissed multiple times. Peeta saved my life and I can't be angry at him for that. I can't be angry at him at all.

Peeta leans his head closer to mine and I suddenly feel the touch of his dry and cracked lips against mine. His lips taste exactly like they did in the arena. They taste lovely and I like the taste. When we stop, he presses his forehead against mine but I still feel the slight touch of his lips.

"I want you to be alright, Katniss," his lips still slightly touch mine when he talks. "I want what's best for you. I care about you. I love you."

I close my eyes as he presses his lips against mine again. He runs his finger down my hair and I'm surprised that I don't have it braided down today. But I do remember I did have it braided earlier when Gale and I got caught outside the fence. When Peeta stops kissing me, I hear Gale stretch.

"Peeta?" he questions when Peeta helps me up.

"Oh hey Gale," Peeta says as he helps me lie back down. "Are you feeling any better?"

Gale nods. "I'll live."

When he says that, I turn to look at Prim and think: _will she ever wake up again?_ I bite my lip and pull the white sheet to cover my upper body. I can't stand the coldness of the room. I mean, after all, it did snow hard before I left for the Victory Tour. And the climate is barely moderating.

"Well I gotta go," Peeta says and pushes a part of my hair to the other side of my forehead. "I hope you feel better. And I hope you feel better too, Gale. I hope Prim's alright too."

"Thanks." Gale says.

I catch one more glimpse of Peeta's eyes when he leans in and kisses me again. I wonder if Gale saw us, if he's bothered by the fact that I might still have feelings for Peeta.

"See y'all." and Peeta's gone in a matter of seconds. I think of Reaping Day which is only two days away. What if Prim gets reaped again? She can't go into the arena all bruised up and hurt. She can't. They can't do that. They will. I'd have to volunteer for her again.

"Hey Katniss," Gale speaks, "You've known Peeta for a while, haven't you?"

"Yeah," I say, "I've known him since before Reaping Day last year."

Gale turns to look at me.

"Wait what?" he questions.

"Well, I didn't talk to him but one day, when I was starving and I didn't have any food, he had a ration of bread and he saw me. After that, he looked back to see if his mother was watching and he threw the bread to me. He saved my life Gale, and he saved my life again in the arena."

When I say that, I see an annoyed look on Gale's face. I can tell he doesn't want to hear me talk about Peeta. I wouldn't either.

"Well…" Gale begins. "Lucky you."

"Thanks?" I say it in a sarcastic and questioning tone.

"Katniss, you know how this year's the third Quarter Quell?"

I nod and think of what the special twist will be this year. I hope it's not to where only twelve-year-olds go into the arena. I hope it's nothing that can increase Prim's chances of going into the arena. I hope it's nothing like that.

"What if the special event is that there's no Hunger Games this year?" when Gale says that, I begin to think that even if the envelope read that, President Snow would refuse. He will not let that happen, ever.

"That won't happen," I say.

"Well what if it does?"

"Not gonna happen."

That's when Gale stops talking, turns to the other side, and I assume rests his eyes. I know that "no Hunger Games" will ever happen. Our world is a completely destroyed world. There's no world where everything is perfect. There's no world with no cruel and war going on. I wish I was somehow brainwashed from all of this. I wish I couldn't remember any of this happening and live in a perfect world with my family and Gale. Our world is far from perfect. Our world is destroyed.

Maybe a miracle will happen one of these days.

_Just maybe._

**NOTES: I finished Chapter 6! Two chapters in one day! Wow, that's a miracle! Well in this chapter, we get closer and closer to Reaping Day. Also, we finally got Peeta! "Juliet's Shadow" I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! Don't worry, I promise there'll be some Finnick in here;) what's a good Hunger Games/Divergent story without Finnick?! "jakefan" I'm glad you're enjoying this story as well! I promise I'll keep y'all updated quicker! Thank you guys and please review; tell me your opinions. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Tris

Shouting is what I'm hearing. Dirt getting stomped on is what I also hear. People rushing and pushing one another out of the way is what I see. Violence is what I see in the city or town that we're reaching.

Tobias, who is only a few centimeters apart from me, clutches my hand and I refuse to let go. My heart is already pounding but I'm not tired. I can run all day if I need to. My feet stomp hard on the dirt that creates a large dust storm. All of us are creating a huge dust storm from all of our running. I haven't seen this much dirt in my life. I think this is also one of the reasons why were bordered up.

I sigh in relief when all of us finally stop and stand right in the city or town. The town is complete chaos. A bunch of people are lined up with a huge flag which I cannot see what exactly it reads but I see the number _6. _

"And this is what we think of the Capitol!" a loud and deep voice coming from a man yells as he holds up a large stick with flames at the end, positioning it straight down to the flag, letting it burn and turn into ash. The flag goes from white to black dust. As the flag burned, I noticed that it also had the word "District" on it.

District 6.

Is this city named District 6? Is this whole world named District 6? I bite my lip and notice Edith get off an automobile after it parks in between the chaos and all of us.

"Now did all of you see what just happened?" she points at the people who burned the flag.

None of us respond but I know that she knows that we did, because we witnessed the whole thing right in front of us.

"This is part of what's going on everywhere else!" she adds. "Now, do any of you know where we are?"

We don't respond.

"We are in District 6," she says.

I'm right. I think.

"But this is the sixth district of the twelve that exist right now. This country that was outside of ours is named Panem. We're in Panem." she states.

_Panem._

So this world is pretty much the same as ours. We're divided and we're controlled but these people don't seem to be controlled. They're rebelling, they're giving—whoever they're giving that action to—a piece of their mind. If we do that, we're Divergent and we will be executed.

"Were all of you sent from the Capitol? Because if you were, this is what we think of your games!" a big angry man yells at us.

Edith shakes her head. "No," she says, "We're not from the Capitol. We weren't sent from the Capitol. We're from that city inside the fences from far away."

The man nods slowly.

"What's the Capitol?" I yell out and everyone turns to look at me surprised, even Edith.

"It's wealthiest and most powerful reside of Panem. Panem is led by Coriolanus Snow, the President who resides in the Capitol. The Capitol controls all of these districts. The Capitol also organizes an annual event each year which are known as The Hunger Games." Edith says.

_Why did Edith wait all these years to tell us about all of this?_

"What's The Hunger Games?" Tobias yells out.

Edith takes a deep breath before saying, "That's something all of y'all will find out, because this year's a special event of The Hunger Games. It is the third Quarter Quell. For those of you who don't know what that is, which I know that none of you know, the Quarter Quell is held every twenty-five years where they add a twist to the event. None of us know what the special twist is this year but we will find out in one day."

I bite my lip when I think of the so-called "Hunger Games". Does it mean that every year, people have to search for their food in order to survive because "The Capitol" is hiding it? Does it mean who can go the latest without eating food? What is it? I need to know. I have to know.

"Well fun's fun but let's tour this district." says Edith and we follow her.

I feel uncomfortable when we pass by the citizens of District 6. All of them glare at us as we take a step closer into their District. I know how they feel because that's how I'd feel if a bunch of the Erudite stepped into the Dauntless compound.

"Like each district in Panem, this district has its own principle industry. Transportation is the principle industry. I know this isn't the best place to live in but it seems like an averaged place to live, I guess, without all this rebellion going on." Edith is stating all these facts while we walk around the district.

The district looks nothing like home. There are a lot of people who look too miserable to do anything. There's some who are actually working but don't seem to be enjoying it. My heart starts beating faster when I see three people dressed in a tint of white to greyish colored uniforms. They wear a white helmet with a dark visor that hides their faces and grey gloves with knee pads on their pants. I also notice a gun that they're wearing around them. _This isn't good. I think._

"Freeze!" I assume they're all men, judging by the sound of the voice that just yelled.

All of us do freeze; the thousands of us but Tobias, Uriah, and I are at the very front, witnessing everything. The three of them are pointing their guns at us.

"No, no, no," Edith stops them, "Hold your fire. I'm Edith Prior and I have permission to be here. These people are from the other world."

When she says "other world", a chill runs down my spine. We are from the "other world" because our world is nothing like this. For the first time, I notice that our world without people like me would be perfect and peaceful.

"I see," the same man says, "I'm watching all of you."

And in a matter of seconds, they walk off and I can somehow picture their vicious faces. _Why is this world even like this?_

"In case you guys are wondering," Edith says, "Those are peacekeepers. They're pretty much like police around here. They're supposed to make this country better by stopping violence. You don't want to deal with a peacekeeper so stay out of any trouble."

We continue to walk throughout the district without any more problems. I think of all of the districts: _why are they like this? Why are they divided like us? Did our war cause them to separate and divide? _I think of The Hunger Games and wonder what it could be. My guesses and hypothesizes might be correct but I know that it has to be something greater than that, something more dangerous than that.

Who knows, maybe I'll participate in them…

**NOTES: Hi guys! I'm really sorry that I haven't posted in days. I've been at my cousin's house these past two days and I'm back home. So here's Chapter 7:D Remember, no one knows what The Hunger Games are or why Panem distributes twelve districts. Of course, they don't know about District 13 either. But Edith Prior knows all of this so just keep that in mind:D I hope all of you are enjoying this story and please review:) Chapter 8 will be up in an hour, I promise!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Katniss

My mother sets Prim down on her bed and tucks her into sleep with the ripped rag so called blanket. I close my eyes and place my forehead on the table in the kitchen because my head still aches after a day. I never knew how much pain peacekeepers carry. And it's still my fault that Prim is hurt, it's my entire fault.

"Prim can't even sit," my mother says as she walks into the kitchen and takes a seat next to me. I quickly pull my head up again and face the pain that travels through it.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asks me.

I shake my head and she grabs my hand.

"Katniss," she says, "You know that it is not your fault that the head peacekeeper whipped her. I don't want you to think that it's your fault. He had no reason to hit Prim."

I move my hand away from hers and she sighs; I sigh as well.

"Mom," I speak, "Today and tomorrow, and the days after that are not going to be good days."

"I know," she agrees, "President Snow will show up on the screen any second now."

She's right. Today's the day when we'll find out what this year's Quarter Quell will be—what this year's special Hunger Games edition will hold. I'm just hoping it has nothing to bring up Prim's chances of going in the arena. I know that if it is, and if she gets reaped again, I _will _volunteer _again_.

After all, tomorrow is Reaping Day.

I grab part of my braid and start messing with it when I see the small screen fade into President Snow. He wears a black suit with a red tie and his white hair seems to be shorter than it was last year. I hear the cheers and claps coming from the crowd and think: _how can these people obey him?_

"Greetings, citizens of Panem!" he greets us and I roll my eyes. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor. Today, I hold this,"

He raises the white envelope in the air.

"This will show us what the third Quarter Quell will consist of. But before I can reveal what this year's Quarter Quell is, I have something special for all of you."

He turns to a huge screen above him and on the screen shows the past two Quarter Quells. I see the second one in which Haymitch Abernathy won. After that, the screen shows footage of the Dark Days and a lot of dead people and bones. I don't bother seeing that because it leads to today. I hate today.

"Now," says President Snow after the presentation is over, "I will reveal this year's Quarter Quell."

He opens up the envelope and holds out a small sheet of paper. He looks at it for a moment before saying anything, and after a few more seconds, he looks up at the crowd, then straight at the camera.

"This year's Quarter Quell is we're including another section of this country, a portion that we've never included in the games. However, their society is divided into five factions and the people from those five factions will be reaped each tomorrow. Therefore, there'll thirty-four tributes this year, but there's also another thing."

All I can this is: _what?!_ There's another district? Another portion? What does that mean? And Factions? How can there be two things?

"The other thing is citizens will be reaped from an existing pool of victors."

When he says that, I don't know what he means by that. Existing pool of victors. After I think about it, I get it.

District 12's only had three victors in the past years. Two males, one female…

I'm going back into the arena with victors from the past, and ten additional tributes.

**NOTES: Here's Chapter 8! It's really short and we're getting closer to the Games so don't worry, it won't be boring for long like it is now. But let me know what y'all think so far!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Tris

I run my fingertips down my hair as we walk to the front of the Hub. After we toured District 6, we walked back home to our original faction headquarters. Edith told us to meet her in front of the Hub the following day, today, because she supposedly has a special announcement. We also have to report back to the Hub tomorrow prior to the meeting today.

I have my arms folded across my chest as I walk next to Uriah towards the building. Tobias is behind us while there's hundreds of people in front of us and another hundred behind us, probably two-hundred.

"What do you think this meeting is about?" Uriah asks me.

"I don't know," I say, "But I bet it's important, judging by requiring all of us to attend."

It feels like the Grand Opening World Ceremony again. I had no idea what the outside world would be like, and I don't even have a tiny clue on what this meeting might be about. I hope it's something good for once, something that will help improve our lives. But I know that that'll never happen soon.

"Well whatever it is," Uriah responds, "I'll stick with you."

That's when Tobias rushes in between us.

"So what are the two of you talking about?" he interrupts.

"The meeting," Uriah answers, "What do you think it's about?"

"Probably about a new rule of letting us train more," Tobias laughs. "But, of course it's obviously about us, Divergents."

"Maybe not," Uriah disagrees.

"Maybe not, maybe yes," I say, "But regardless of what it is, the three of us will stick together."

"She's right," says Uriah, "We do need to stick together."

Tobias nods and we continue walking towards the Hub. It isn't far away; it's only one block away. I see the crowd of the Abnegation at the back and the Erudite at the front. The Amity is in front of the Abnegation, the Candor is in front of Amity, and we're in front of Candor—behind the Erudite.

When we reach the Hub, I see a podium in front of the building. There's a large space for all of us to fit in. There are a few chairs to each side of the podium. I see the leaders of each Faction on the chairs but the Dauntless leader. That's because the Dauntless leader is Tobias.

"Aren't you supposed to be seated over there?" I ask Tobias, pointing at the empty chair.

"No," he says, "Remember? We're sticking together. Besides, Tori will take my spot."

I nod as I watch Tori walk over and take a seat. This meeting must be special, almost as special as the Grand Opening World Ceremony. Everything almost looks fancy. But when I see Tori, I think of the day she stabbed Jeanine Matthews. I'm still a traitor to her.

"Hello citizens," Edith speaks as she stands in front of the podium and we're all standing straight looking at her. "Well, I bet y'all are all wondering why we're having this small meeting."

Everyone nods and I enfold my arms across my chest.

"Well I bring this message all the way from the Capitol."

The Capitol? We're not owned by the Capitol. I think. We're not owned. We're not owned. We're not owned. I cannot be controlled.

"President Coriolanus Snow revealed what this year's Quarter Quell is earlier today and we actually got two twists this year. Well I guess I'll start with the easiest one for you guys."

Edith clears her throat and continues.

"Victors from the past will be reaped this year,"

_Victors. _So if this is the third Quarter Quell, there has been an estimate of 74 Hunger Games in the past. This will mark the 75th Hunger Games. I bite my lip when I think of _victors_. How do they win? What exactly do you have to do?

"But the other thing is," Edith continues and I can hear the odd sound of her voice, "I have to reap one male and one female from each Faction in this society. Instead of the usual 24 tributes each year, with the help of you guys, there will be 34 tributes this year."

I want to scream because they're not telling us what The Hunger Games are. I have to know! We all have to know!

"Well that's really what this meeting is all about and I'm not supposed to do this but I have a special presentation to show y'all."

The whole crowd of us shatters into whispers. Edith pulls a projector and on one portion of the Hub's wall, is a screen with a bunch of skulls and bones. The picture then turns into a video and a deep voice in the video tells us what it means. Footages of teenagers and kids killing each other is what we all see: blood, weapons, death. Then we see a male rising up and being called a _victor_. After that, it shows a female rising up and crowned a _victor_. When the screen fades away and all we see is the color black of the Hub, Edith walks back over to the podium.

"That's what The Hunger Games are, and why they were formed. I will see all of you here at this exact same spot for Reaping Day tomorrow. Happy Hunger Games… and may the odds be ever in your favor..."

Before she leaves, I feel a sudden urge to punch someone, to shriek and break down. Of course I can't do that but I have to do something about this.

"Wait!" I cry, "Stop!"

Edith stops and everyone turns to look at me with a bizarre look.

"Wait!" I walk over to Edith, pushing people out of my way, "You can't do this! You can't do this!"

When I reach her, I'm insane; I wrap my hands around her neck and begin shaking her, hearing her beg for help.

"I can't let you do this! You can't let them kill us!" I scream.

"Tris!" Tobias yells from the shouting crowd and when I turn, everyone is rushing towards me. Tobias is pushing everyone out of the way and so is Uriah. I see Edith's skin color turning purple, including her lips. I dig my fingernails in her delicate and thin skin of the back of her neck.

"Tris! Stop!" I feel Tobias's buffy arms wrap around me, squeeze me and I turn around to look at his furious dark eyes. Before I can say anything else, I feel a needle go through my neck and I can't feel my legs.

My vision is blurry now and all I can see from the blur is black. My legs are shaking before I can't see anything at all but feel my body collapse on the ground.

**NOTES: Okay, here's Chapter 9. These chapters are really short and I'll try to make them longer but anyway, "jakefan" I'm glad it's getting more interesting for you! "Juliet's Shadow" I'm glad you're enjoying the story too! A special thanks to both of you and my followers! Y'all are the best! Please review and tell me what you guys would like to see later in the story!:D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Katniss

I regain my balance as soon as I grab Prim's hand. She's grown so much since last year. I remember I'd see her as a tiny little girl but now, she's almost as tall as me. Prim doesn't have to worry about today: Reaping Day.

I still feel a little unbalanced due to last night. After we found out what the Quarter Quell was, I couldn't help it but run and scream. I had to let everything out. After that, I went over to Haymitch and I didn't hesitate but to take some of his whiskey and drink it with him until we both couldn't. I don't even know how I made it all the way back home. But I'm thankful that I did.

"Please don't go, Katniss," Prim tells me as we begin walking to the Hall of Justice. "Please."

"I have to; nobody can volunteer for me, Prim. I'm really sorry."

I see the tear that's running down her face. I don't even see the point of everyone going to the Hall of Justice. None of the females have to be reaped and only Peeta and Haymitch have to be reaped.

Peeta.

My mind crosses him when I think of him. How did he react to the revealing of the Quarter Quell? I bet he didn't react to me, obviously. But that doesn't matter. What matters is if he gets reaped, which his odds are not even close to his favor, I have to protect him. I have to keep him alive in the arena. He saved my life and now I have to protect his.

"I have to go now," I tell Prim as we reach the Hall of Justice. "Please don't cry, don't cry. I'll be fine. I love you, and tell mom I said I love her."

"You'll try to win, right?" she tears up even more.

"Goodbye, Prim." And then I kiss her bruised forehead and leave. I can hear her weeping from yards away but I don't turn back. I don't want to turn back, even though I feel awful. I know that the peacekeepers are carrying her away but that's good. That way she won't see me.

I stand next to Mayor Undersee, his wife, and Madge. The reaping doesn't take long as Effie shows another presentation to our district, pulls out a slip of paper after it's over, and reads Haymitch Abernathy's name. But he doesn't have time to walk up to the podium as Peeta volunteers for him seconds after, and we don't even bother to say goodbye to our families. Besides, I already said goodbye to Prim but I didn't say goodbye to Gale. I see him in the crowd with a sorry look but I don't look at him. After Effie says, "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor." We approach the train and are taken to the Capitol.

Haymitch is with us riding to the Capitol. Even though he wasn't reaped, he's still our mentor. Peeta sits on the seat next to me with his head down and he doesn't look worried. But he doesn't bother looking at me.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, knowing he's definitely not.

"Are you?" he looks up to look at me.

"No," I say.

"Neither am I."

Effie walks in the room after our short conversation. She wears a blue dress with glittery slippers. Her dress is puffy and matches her light blue hair. She pours herself a drink on a glass cup and sits in front of Peeta and me.

"Well," she says, taking a sip from her drink. I assume it's whiskey. "It's nice to have both of you back."

I don't say anything.

"You know, it's not bad," she says, "I mean you guys already know what to do, right?"

"Not really," says Peeta, "Effie, there are thirty four tributes this year, and twenty-four of them, including ourselves, are victors from the past. Katniss still has a shot of winning but I absolutely don't."

He leans back on his chair and sighs. He's not right; I'm the one who has no shot of winning. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for him. The odds may not be extremely in his favor for winning, but I know that they are higher than mine.

"Peeta," I say, "You're stronger than me. I know you have a shot of winning."

"Don't lie to me," he responds, "Even you know what you're saying is a lie."

"I'm not lying," I say, "You have a great chance to win. I believe you can win."

He doesn't say anything after that. I get why he refuses to listen me and is disagreeing with me but I know that he can win. Sure, both of us won last year because I pulled out the nightlock berries, causing both of us to be crowned the victors, but that was different. I created a revolution, a rebellion among the districts. Almost every district is uprising against the Capitol and it's all because of me.

Haymitch walks into our conversation but shockingly, he's not drinking anything or looks drunk.

"Hello Haymitch," Effie says, "Come join us."

He sits on the seat next to Effie and stares at both me and Peeta. I know what he's thinking. He's thinking the same thing he was thinking last year. _Congratulations._

"What's going on?" he questions our awkward silence.

"I'll be right back," Effie says as she stands up and leaves the room. I don't know what to say or what to do. I know that Peeta is thinking too much because so am I. Haymitch stands, walks over to the table, and grabs a sponge cake with whipped cream on the top. He hasn't bothered to touch any of the drink beverages. I guess he drank too much with me yesterday to even touch a bottle.

"How'll we survive again?" Peeta asks as Haymitch takes a seat again, stuffing his face with the cake.

"Stay alive." Haymitch answers and takes the last bite of the cake.

That's what Peeta has to do. He has to stay alive and I'll do whatever I can to help him stay alive. He helped me stay alive multiple times and I'll do the same in return.

"I don't understand," says Peeta, "I don't understand how this year's Quarter Quell has two twists. Can they even do that?"

"Well they obviously did," Haymitch responds, "But that doesn't matter."

"Yeah it does," Peeta replies, "There are thirty-four tributes this year! I can't compete with thirty-three other tributes! The more there are, the most likely I'll get killed, but… I don't care, I don't know."

"Listen," says Haymitch, "I went into the arena with forty-seven other tributes. If I was able to come out as the victor, I'm sure you can. Both of you."

Peeta doesn't respond. There's a long silence and it's so quiet that I can hear Peeta's and Haymitch's hearts beat. I can hear the bloodstream in their body, flowing everywhere.

"I'll be in the other room," I say and leave the room.

I don't know what else to tell Peeta or how to respond to Haymitch. I know Peeta has too many thoughts in his head and I must leave him alone for that. I know that if I was him, I'd like to be left alone. Of course, I, too, have a bunch of things going on in my head. I don't know how I'll survive in an arena full of past victors plus ten additional tributes.

I don't know if I'll be the girl on fire anymore…

**NOTES: Average-sized chapter; not too long, but not too short. Well, they're on their way to the Capitol. In case any of you are wondering, Tris and the others haven't gotten reaped yet. They will in the next chapter. Of course I can't tell y'all who gets reaped as y'all will have to find out in the next chapter;) but things are picking up and I hope all of you are enjoying it. Thank you all and review please:)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Tris

My heart rate is increasing. I feel like all of my blond hair is going to fall off my head. My fingers feel like they're going to twist together because of the shakiness of them. Everything in my body is shaking, even my organs!

I bite my lip when Tobias takes my shaky hand. His hand is almost double the size of mine. But that makes sense because I'm a tiny person. I'm a tiny person compared to a lot of people, especially Tobias. He's double the size of my whole body. He's thicker and stronger, and much braver.

"It's going to be okay, Tris," he says, "I promise."

Maybe he's right. Maybe everything will be alright. But I can see the look in his eyes that he's lying. I can see the lie right through his dark blue eyes. After looking at his eyes for a moment, I look back down and finish tying my shoes. Edith said we all to wear our Faction clothing, even though we already do that. But she knows that some people disobey the rules and don't follow them. So if anyone is out of their required clothing, they'll be sent off somewhere I don't know. But I'm Dauntless and I wear black all the time so it isn't much of a problem for me.

I just want to get this over with. Reaping Day. I can't believe the Capitol makes us get reaped in order to get transported into an arena where you fight to the death. I have no strength or power to do that. I may be selfish and brave, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to do that. What I'm doing is proving complete cowardice among me. But I don't care. I just don't care anymore.

"It'll be fine," Tobias adds before I feel his soft lips touching mine. I don't like kissing him in front of others but I don't care if Uriah is around. Uriah and I are just friends, so I'm sure he won't mind at all. I hope.

We walk with the rest of our fellow Dauntless members to the front of the Hub. We're the first ones there because we're the only ones who ran. The Dauntless compound isn't too far away from the Hub either, so we have an advantage.

The front of the Hub is decorated the same as it was yesterday. The podium is in the middle of two chairs on the right and three chairs on the left. The two chairs on the right belong to the leader of the Erudite, and the leader of the Dauntless. The other three remain to the leaders of Abnegation, Candor, and Amity. The leaders are already sitting there, including Tori but the Erudite is the only one that's absent. But not for too long because I gasp when I see the teenage boy walk out of the Hub and take his seat on the chair. The sunlight reflects his dark brown hair, making it look dirty blonde. But maybe I'm just hallucinating due to that fact that I'm shocked and puzzled. _He's a traitor. _I think to myself. _He betrayed us. He's the one that gave Jeanine Matthews information about my aptitude test. He's the reason Jeanine knew that I was Divergent._ How can he?

My own brother.

He makes brief eye contact with me but I look away. When I look back, he's looking at the Erudite, Candor, and Amity who are entrancing themselves to the event. The Abnegation are the last to enter and I know why. Before we entered, we had to release blood from our index finger and have it verified by three young women. They were wearing grey dresses and I assumed that they are Abnegation but I could've been wrong. I don't know what they did to the people whose blood wasn't verified positive. They were taken somewhere else and I don't see them in this large crowd.

I see a bunch of cameras pointed at us and at the leaders. We don't have any of the types of cameras that are here in the Dauntless compound. The only types of cameras we have are the security ones. These cameras are large and move. I don't see the point of them snapping a shot of us or filming us. The people behind the cameras are smiling and smile even more when they turn to the podium and see Edith stand behind it.

"Welcome!" she says.

I swear I'm really getting sick of these stupid events.

"Happy Hunger Games!" she smiles a little. "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

_May the odds be ever in your favor. _I look around the Dauntless crowd and only see a few of us. Uriah is behind me while Tobias is next to me. He turns to look at me and I can't help but smile. His face seems to delight me every time I see it for some reason. But I don't see how mine can delight him.

"Well," says Edith, "All of you are roughly calm and quiet today."

What are we supposed to do? Smile and laugh? I wish.

Edith looks beside her and whispers something to Caleb. Tori looks at them and turns to look at Tobias and me. She's giving me an odd look that I don't like. Her small dark eyes look even smaller than they already are. Her hair is surprisingly curly today and I can see the grey streaks on her hair even more. I wonder what she's thinking.

"Excuse me, sorry about that," Edith says after she turns to look at us again.

I bite my lip because I don't have a good feeling about this. It's too quiet, like Edith said. The only thing I can hear is the wind blowing my short hair. I love the way the breeze feels against me. It's a beautiful day created by Mother Nature. If only Mother Nature could remove this "Reaping Day" event. That would make this day much more pleasant.

"Well now," Edith says as a pair of men walk out of the Hub, each holding a big glass bowl filled with tiny wrapped slips of paper. The first bowl has the name _Abnegation _on it. The man who's holding it is dark skinned and is wearing a grey suit and pants. His tie is red and his shoes are black. I catch a closer glimpse of him and notice that his eyes are blue. He's like a mixture of our Factions.

"I will draw a slip of paper out of Abnegation first, remember, ladies are always first."

Edith dips her skinny hand inside the bowl and spins it slowly before she clutches a slip of paper, unfolds it, and reads, "Sandra Mae!"

Everyone turns to the Abnegation section and I catch glimpse of an averaged-sized girl with light brown hair walk towards Edith. I stare at Sandra's grey dress and shoes because she somehow reminds me of myself when I was a Stiff.

"Hello Sandra," Edith smiles and shakes Sandra's stiff hand. Sandra looks like she can't move. She doesn't look very tall, but she looks like she's a little taller than me. Everyone's taller than me.

"Well, now the boys."

Another man walks forward with an identical bowl, and Edith quickly reaches inside to grab another slip of paper and read, "Jordan Holmes!"

I see a tall, dark-skinned guy with muscular arms walk over and stand next to Sandra. I feel like his grey clothing is too small on him. But it'd be too selfish if he asked for a bigger size, meaning he's trying to satisfy himself, proving selfishness.

"Greetings, Jordan."

Both Sandra and Jordan are too stiff to say anything.

"It's time for Amity," Edith continues as a pair of two light skinned men walk out of the Hub with two glass bowls with the name _Amity _carved on them. Surprisingly, I notice that the glass bowls don't have symbols, neither did the Abnegation ones. Maybe they're trying something new for a change.

Edith dives her hand on the female's bowl and takes out the slip of paper that has the name, "Jade Hopkins." on it. The dark-haired girl looks to be about seventeen or eighteen. Her appearance does not look peaceful at all as she stares down at us with her vicious icy blue eyes.

"Felix Long!" Edith reads the next slip of paper and waits for the small boy, who only looks to stand four feet, and one inch, walk over to the podium and greet her.

"Candor time!"

Another pair of men walk over to Edith with the glass bowls and let Edith take out a slip of paper from each at one time to read, "Tanya Lancaster!" and "Brayde Knight!"

Tanya's hair only goes down to her neck but is a bit longer than mine. Her hair appears to be dark brown though while Brayde's short and golden bronze hair camouflages with his bronze skin. He's well-built and is almost double the size of Tanya.

"Erudite!"

Another pair of men walk with another two glass bowls to help Edith reach her hand inside the female's bowl and say, "Daryn Anderson!"

Daryn looks exactly like Jade—same eyes, same hair, same skin. A train hits my head when I realize that they are both identical twins that chose different lifestyles. What a coincidence.

"Axton Calvert!" Edith shouts and I see a muscular guy with dark hair walk over to the podium to stand next to Daryn. Their eyes reflect each other, except Axton's eyes are a little darker. His eyebrows are perfectly shaped and he looks like he can kill somebody at any moment.

I bite my lip.

"And last, but not least," Edith says, "Dauntless!"

The last two men, holding the two glass bowls each, saunter towards Edith as she rubs her hands and smiles. Her thin hand shakes a little when it meets the inside of the bowl. Her thumb and index finger clutch a slip of paper and Edith smiles even more. She wasn't smiling this much when she was taking out the other slips. She takes a quick glance at my direction before she slowly unfolds the paper and reads the name.

The name she read sounds familiar. It's the same name everyone knew that one person of. That one person was once a stiff. That one person changed her name when she transferred to another Faction. But that doesn't change things. That doesn't matter. That person is Beatrice Prior.

Beatrice. Tris. Me.

My whole body shakes and I can't even move a finger. I can see now why they referred to me as Stiff. I am stiff, so stiff that I can't move. Tobias's hand meets mine and squeezes it, and I hope that he doesn't let go. I hope he doesn't let me go; he can't! I can't leave him! But a thought strikes my mind before I release his hand. I'm Dauntless. I'm Divergent. I'm brave. I'm brave enough to go into an arena full of kids and teenagers killing each other. If I get executed, which I know I most likely will, I'll die out of courage and braveness.

I traipse towards Edith and for the first time, I notice that she looks a lot like me. She has the same greyish to blue eyes as me, and has almost the same blond hair as me. Her blond hair fades to tint of white though and that's due to her age.

"Hi Beatrice," she shakes my hand and that's when I realize that I'm standing next to Caleb. I look at him and he smiles at me. I can't look at him, because when I do, pure hate hits me. I can't stand him. I hate him!

"And now, the boys!" Edith says, sounding relieved.

She digs her hand deep in the slips of paper and takes one out, showing it off to the crowd. I still can't believe I was picked out of hundreds of papers that were there. How? Just how? The odds are definitely not in my favor, they never were.

But for some reason, I kind of knew it was going to be me. And I have a feeling that I know who is next as I watch Edith's fingers unfold the slip of paper. I close my eyes so I won't have to see his reaction, so I won't have to see the fear in his eyes. Maybe now he has five fears, because I definitely don't have six anymore. My eyes are shut tight when Edith reads the name, and that's when I rapidly open my eyes. I was wrong. It's not _him_.

I see the guy with brown hair and bronze skin, approach me and Edith. I don't see the fear in his dark eyes because he's brave enough to go into an arena and fight to the death. Even though the odds weren't in his favor for this reaping, his odds of winning are great. After all, he is a Dauntless-born and has been training since he was a toddler. He makes me look pale as he stands tall next to me.

"Here are our tributes!" Edith shouts, "And again, Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

She pushes us inside the Hub and I'm still standing next to handsome guy who has been my friend since I transferred to Dauntless. He takes my hand and I suddenly feel a stronger connection to him, probably almost the same as Tobias's. But I guess I've gained more trust on him due to the fact that he's been with me for the past two events that have occurred, for the past few days. And also, he's Divergent, like Tobias and me. However, I don't know what to say or do, or what to tell him. All I can think is that I can't believe it. I can't believe he's been reaped.

Uriah.

* * *

**NOTES: Okay, before you say anything, I thought including all of the tributes from Amity, Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless would be necessary, so you can see who exactly got reaped. Sorry I took long to update but I didn't start this until this morning and it took me about an hour or so. But other than that, I really enjoyed writing this chapter! This actually the longest chapter I've written! Over 2,000 words! But I've seen other stories whose chapters are longer than mine. But anyway, I know it was SUPER OBVIOUS that Tris was going to be reaped and I knew that most of you would think that Tobias was going to be reaped next, so I chose not to have him reaped. Did y'all expect Uriah getting reaped?;) if not, who else did y'all expect to get reaped besides Tris and Tobias? Review it:D and also, I decided not to include Edith saying Uriah's name because his last name is never mentioned in the novel and I didn't want to come up with a random one, so I'll let y'all choose y'all's last name that best fits Uriah. I also LOVED introducing the other eight tributes:) I'm really excited and looking forward to writing about them! So yeah... Kind of a long note but I want to say: thank you all! And please review!:D**

**...**

**Don't be shy:)**

**Juliet's Shadow: I'm super glad that you're liking this story:D I hope you're enjoying it even more, and I hope you liked these characters I've introduced. Don't worry, your Finnick will be here soon:)**

**Amy (Guest): I'm really glad you're loving my story! Sorry I took long to update, I didn't start this chapter 'til today... so yeah. But Thank you so much! And don't be timid to review again:D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Katniss

My eyes keep twitching, not letting me get any sleep. My feet feel so cold that I feel like there's ice cubes in between my toes. I can't do anything about the cold air that's running throughout the train. All I can do, and manage to do it, is pull my blanket and cover my head.

I haven't been this cold since the day Gale and I were hunting on a winter morning and packs of snow began hitting us, and almost blocked our way to get out of the forest. I don't even know how we managed to get home, but when I did, Prim rushed towards me and wrapped me around her tiny arms.

I can't think of Prim. Not now. Not when she's worried sick about me. I should've promised her that I'd try to win again. But this year isn't about me, it's about Peeta. It's about me helping Peeta stay alive.

I hear a squeaky noise and notice that the door is being opened. I rub my eyes hard and hardly see anything afterwards but a dark figure. He slowly closes the door and I spot his face. Peeta. I can see the strokes of his blond hair coming from the windows. I notice that tonight's a full moon, so it isn't completely dark tonight.

His weight presses down on my small bed and I'm surprised that we both fit in it perfectly. Maybe the bed isn't too small at all.

"Rough night?" his warm breath creeps up on the back of my neck.

I nod and I assume he saw me do that. I'm facing the opposite direction so he can only see the back of my head. I feel his warm and soft hand rub my arms firmly and nicely. He could be a good massager if he massaged plenty of people.

"Sorry I was being difficult earlier," he apologizes in a gentle and soothing voice, "I'm sorry; I just get like that sometimes."

I turn around and I can see his blue eyes. His eyes are like the ocean, deep blue and I enjoy the view of them. He takes my hand and wraps it against his. There's a small silence before I say, "It's not your fault." It's not his fault at all. I don't blame him for feeling the way he was feeling. That's kind of how I feel.

"You don't have to be sorry," I add.

He shakes his head and removes his hand off of mine. He sighs and I can tell that I probably angered him a little. But there's no reason for him to angry. There's no reason for him to worry. I will protect him.

"Katniss," he says, "You have to promise me something."

Promise him something? I'll promise him anything that I can deliver. I can promise him anything to satisfy him. I nod and he pushes his messy hair back and says, "Promise me that you won't sacrifice yourself for me. Promise me."

Part of me inside is screaming. Part of me inside is waiting to get out and yell at him, telling him that I will do the opposite of that. Part of me is going to sacrifice herself for him. But part of me outside just lies, "I promise." and he wraps his arms around me.

I just lied to him but I lied to him for something good. I am going to protect him whether he likes it or not, because he protected me last year. I know I'm doing something for him just in return, but even if he didn't protect me last year, I'd still protect him this year because it is the best thing to do. Maybe I'm doing it because I love him…

"I love you, Katniss," he says and before I can say anything else, he presses his chapped lips against mine, and I manage to moisturize them a little with mine. He runs his finger down my skin and next thing I know, his whole body is on mine. I feel his chest and stomach pressed against mine. He's wearing shorts so I feel part of his legs with mine. I run my hands down his back and move them back up to touch his broad shoulders. I slide one hand on the back of his head and feel his soft hair. His hands are touching my cheeks as he kisses my neck and moves down to my chest. I don't know if I can go any farther than this, because I've never done this. I feel slight pleasure when he runs one his hands down my legs and kisses me on the lips again.

"You okay?" he asks, his forehead is against mine.

I nod and he kisses me again before we both fall asleep in both of our arms.

When I open my eyes, Peeta's arm is across my chest. I look at the clock and it reads _6:23_. I don't know what time we fell asleep last night but it was pretty late. I look out the window and see the passing leaves from trees that we're quickly traveling by. The sky looks like a cloudless blue. The sky's color is almost the same as Peeta's beautiful eyes. I turn to look at him and his face is facing mine. I never knew how handsome Peeta looks, especially when he's sleeping. Luckily, he doesn't snore in his sleep, and I hope I don't either. Prim and my mother never complained that I snored so I'm sure I don't but I could be wrong.

I pull myself up and stare at myself in the large mirror near the bed. I haven't changed much since last year; however, my hair is slightly darker and longer. I like it this way but I love it more the way my mother braids it. If only she was here. I see Peeta's body move in the reflection and it makes me wonder how both of us slept without either one of us falling off the bed. The bed was made for the both of us.

Only his shirt is off and I can see a few of his abs and all of his muscle on his back. Peeta's muscular but not as muscular as Gale. Gale's taller and thicker than Peeta.

"Good morning," I say and make my way for the bed again.

"Good morning," he yawns and stretches his arms out that I can see part of his armpit hair. It's blond though so I can hardly see it.

"You know how you made me promise not to sacrifice myself for you?" I ask him as I sit next to him.

"Yeah?" he responds in a drowsy voice.

"Well I just wanted to say that I respect your decision and won't disobey you." I lie. I keep lying; I keep lying to him.

"Thanks," he says and kisses me again right when Effie walks in.

"Oh!" she responds with her high pitched voice. "Well, um, y'all must hurry on and dress because we're almost to the Capitol."

She's wearing a pink wig with a puffy peach dress with lots of details on it. Her black heals make her taller and the tallest of the four of us.

Peeta helps me up and leaves the room while I run to the bathroom and rinse my face with warm water. I haven't felt warm water against my skin in a long while because I always bathe and rinse with freezing cold water from District 12. I guess there are some benefits by getting reaped. You get more options, and much more food and water.

"Sweetheart!" Haymitch cries as I step into the dining area of the train. "Pass me the liquor!"

I grab the bottle and take a look at it. Haymitch is drinking way too much; he was doing so well without a drink yesterday. I was hoping he'd stop but I'm wrong. I hand him over the bottle and he pours it on a small glass cup. I don't see how he can drink that much.

"Haymitch," I say, "You're going to be too drunk when we get to the Capitol."

_He is_. But he refuses to stop.

"Oh well," he responds, "Anyway, where's Peeta?"

"I think he's still changing," I say and take a seat across from Haymitch on the table, "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" he rubs butter on his toast.

"Peeta told me that I shouldn't sacrifice myself for him, like he doesn't want me to protect him," I state.

"Oh I forgot," he puts the butter knife down and looks at me with his grey seam eyes. "Peeta came over the day when Snow announced what this year's Quell was. He came over before you to tell me that he would volunteer for me if my name was picked, and that he'd do whatever he could to protect you."

_No_. No, no, no, no, no, no!

"He's not," I refuse to agree, "He protected me last year, and he helped me survive on that rainy day. I can't let him do this. I have to protect him and I don't care what he says. I'm going to keep him alive, whether it means me dying."

Haymitch pours more liquor in his cup after he chugged it all and pours some on the glass cup near me.

"Have a drink," he says.

"I don't want any, thanks." I respond and let him take the cup and chug it all down to his body. Peeta is not going to help me live. I will not let him do that. I feel like yelling at him and I get pretty lucky when I see him walk into the room. I don't hesitate to get up—I approach him and push him against the wall, pressing my arm against his neck hard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yell and hear Effie scream a little and enter the room. "You won't let me help you live but you'll do anything to help me live? Who the hell do you think you are?"

I press my arm on his neck harder before Haymitch and Effie pull me away from him. I see the traumatized look in Peeta's eyes staring right at me; a monster. I don't care though; I'd rather kill myself and let Peeta win than him getting killed because he's helping me live. He's helped me enough! It's my turn!

"Stop it!" Effie cries, "Didn't you learn your manners?"

"I don't care," I say and look at Peeta right in the eye, "You're not going to die because of me. You're not going to let them kill you because you're protecting me."

He doesn't say anything before I'm escorted to my room by Effie. My room isn't far away from the dining area; it's only three doors down. I sit on my bed when Effie says, "Have you lost your mind?"

I think I have.

"Katniss?" she adds.

I shrug and shake a little. My room is still chilly from last night. I can't believe I did that to Peeta. I'm such an animal.

"Listen," Effie sits next to me, "I know it's hard right now, but you and Peeta need to work this out. I don't care what happens but y'all need to work this out. Y'all are the tributes from District 12, and y'all need to work together."

For the first time, I think Effie's right. Peeta and I have to work together. If we do, I'm sure we can take on the rest of the tributes, even though this year it's almost double the tributes. But Haymitch won in the 50th Hunger Games with forty-seven other tributes on his own. Peeta and I actually have a chance if we work together.

"I'll try to work it out," I say, "Thanks Effie."

Effie smiles and leaves the room. Her dress makes too much noise when she walks. But that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that I act like such a fool at times. I clear my throat and start for the dining area again. I see Peeta sitting in the exact spot I was talking to Haymitch in. Peeta's wearing a black shirt with dark brown pants. His shoes are black as well and match his shirt. I walk in and right when I'm about to speak, the room goes dark, then light comes back, then dark, then light and it stays that way. The train slows down and I hear people cheering and screaming from outside. Peeta and I look out the window and see citizens from the Capitol. They all look identical as they did last year. All of them are cheering for us and shouting our names. Peeta smiles and waves at them while I walk over to Haymitch to tell him, "We're here."

* * *

**NOTES: So um, excuse the "sexual" scene that occurs at the commence of this chapter. In the Hunger Games novels, Peeta and Katniss don't get that intimate so I thought I'd do that type of scene. I thought it'd be kind of romantic... I guess... I don't want to turn this into a "Fifty Shades of Grey" themed novel XD. But anyway, so Katniss is furious with Peeta because he told Haymitch that he was going to protect Katniss. Katniss doesn't want that because she feels that Peeta has helped her stay alive too much. I don't blame her but c'mon Katniss, let your man help you! XD So at the end, they're finally at the Capitol. Pretty slow chapter but don't worry, action-packed scenes will come in no time! Thank you all and please review!:D I almost have 20 reviews!**

**Juliet's Shadow: so this isn't too sexual but hey, it kinda is... haha. So um, I'm hope you liked this chapter and I'm truly loving Graceland!**

**divergentdandelion: I'm excited that you're enjoying this story! Well here's the next chapter but it's from Katniss's point-of-view though. But I'll hurry on and get started on the next! Which is Tris's point-of-view again:D But yeah, we'll see a lot of Uriah and Tris in this story! Thank you! and don't be afraid to review again:D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Tris

"Come with me, Tris." Uriah says from the top of the Hub. "It'll be fine, come sit next to me."

Now that I recall, I don't remember the last time when Uriah and I were alone talking. I actually like being with Uriah and talking to him. He's nice and a good friend.

He reaches his hand out to me and I grab it gently as he firmly pulls me next to him. Our feet are hanging from the top of the building but his legs are longer.

"You know I have your back whenever we go into the arena, right?" Uriah tells me.

I nod because I know that I can trust him. Uriah's been my friend for quite a while so he's gained my trust. I only hope I've gained his.

"You know, I really want to tell you something, but I don't know how to tell you without you freaking out," he looks at me.

He can tell me anything. I mean, I can tell him anything so why can't he tell me what he wants to tell me? I'm me; I won't judge him or anything.

"Tell me," I say.

He grabs my right hand with both of his hands and clears his throat.

"Ever since I first saw you at the Dauntless compound, when we were training, I thought you were like the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life… I still do. Tris, I like you."

My heart is sinking. I feel like crying because this can't be happening. Uriah can't possibly like me! I'm not even beautiful, like he said. I'm not. I like Uriah but not like that. I like him as a friend and I think it should stay that way. It has to stay that way.

"I…" I hesitate, "I like you too, I guess."

I laugh a little but Uriah doesn't smile or laugh with me. He removes his hand away from me and his expression doesn't look good. He doesn't look happy anymore, instead, he looks outraged.

"I'm sorry," he gets up, "I knew you'd say that. But you're a fool, Tris, you know that?"

I raise an eyebrow but before I can say anything, his fist meets my face and he uses his fist to push me off the building as gravity begins to pull me towards the hard ground. I'm shrieking and watch him decrease in size as I fall. I can hear the wind that I'm pressing my body onto and when I look down, I see black and that's when my body claps against the ground.

"Tris! Tris!" I see Uriah shaking me. "Are you okay? You were screaming and I heard you from my room."

We're not on top of the Hub; we're not in the Hub as a matter of fact. We're in the train, heading to the Capitol. I remember because Edith told us that we didn't have to jump to this particular train. All we had to do was walk in as if it was just a building. My room is right next to Uriah's so maybe that's why he heard me screaming.

"Just a bad dream." I say and rub my left eye. I look out the window and it's still dark, but not completely dark as it is a full moon tonight. I can see Uriah's dark eyes thanks to the moonlight. He wraps me in his arms and I want to let go but I want to gain more trust on him. I want to know that I can definitely trust him.

"Want me to sleep here with you? Want to come to my room or…?" he asks and I bite my lip. I want him to stay but at the same time I don't. I'm getting petrified by all of this. I didn't even get to say goodbye to Tobias; none of us got to say goodbye to our friends and family. But the only family I have left is Tobias.

"Can you stay here with me?" I'm making the biggest mistake God can ever see.

Uriah stays quiet for a little bit and I can see his dark eyes move around the room. He looks at the window when he says, "Look, I want to show you something."

I push the sheets out of my way and walk with Uriah over to the window. I see the stars on the dark sky, which looks super dark blue. The full moon lights it up and makes it look even more beautiful than it already is.

"Wow," I say, "It's beautiful."

I see Uriah's smile, his head is so close to mine that the sides of our faces almost touch. I'm surprised that we can't hear the noises the train makes when it moves. I'm also stunned by the way that we can't even feel a thing from the lightning speed that the train is traveling with. It's like we're not even on some sort of transportation. I suddenly remember District 6 when I think of the word _transportation_. Transportation is District 6's principle industry, but I hate thinking of that day when we took the tour. I still can't believe people can rebel like that; however, I understand. And I do definitely understand because I'm Divergent; I pretty much am a symbol of rebellion.

"Hey listen, Tris," Uriah speaks as I make my way for the bed again. "If you don't mind me asking, what'd you dream about? Why were you screaming?"

I push my hair back and sigh, because I don't want to tell him any of that. I don't want Uriah and me to become something else other than what we already are. I love the way me and Uriah currently are, and it should stay that way. Slowly, I swallow a ration of my spit and say, "I was drowning again."

_I need to stop lying. I need to stop lying. I need to stop lying._

"Oh I'm sorry," he says, "But don't worry, we're not even near water."

He's right. We're like in the middle of nowhere. However, Edith said that it wouldn't take long to reach the Capitol. She said it'd only take 'til tomorrow. I remember because after we got on the train, instead of jumping which I actually felt like doing, she told us that the train travels at about two-hundred miles per hour. She's definitely right about that after I watched the trees that we passed through fly by.

"Do you know what time it is?" I ask.

He looks at the clock, and I don't know how he can see that with the kind of darkness that hits the room. I'm guessing the moonlight hits the clock from his perspective.

"Three-thirty four." he responds.

Three-thirty four. Four.

Four. Tobias. I can't believe I didn't even say farewell to him. I might get killed and he might not ever see me again. I know that I'll be killed, dealing with thirty-three other tributes. I'm not strong or capable enough to take them—I'm not even capable enough to take on Uriah. I'm not.

It's late," I say, "I'm really sorry I woke you up with my screaming. I might've even awakened the others but uh… you can go back to sleep if you want. You don't have to stay here with me."

"But I want to," he says before he speedily says, "I mean, I will."

I chuckle a little and say, "Have you talked to the other tributes?"

I know I haven't. Now that I remember, I don't recall talking to anyone after the Reaping. I was in too much shock for Uriah to even speak. I remember that after the Reaping, we went inside the Hub and Edith talked to a few people. After that, she led us to the train, which was by Candor headquarters, and we've been here since then.

"I talked to Axton," Uriah says, "But for the record, I'm never talking to him ever again, and you shouldn't either."

"Why not?" I question.

I know that Axton seemed intimidating at Reaping Day but everyone has a sweet side… I think.

"Just don't talk to him, Tris. Don't." Uriah sounds serious now.

"Uriah," I say, "Tell me. Is there a problem with him?"

There must be a problem. I don't want to deal with any of them, especially starting with Axton. Brayde doesn't look too nice either. None of them look nice except for Sandra. I feel bad for Sandra's family. But I do want to get to know them a little better.

I think of Axton's blue eyes and his dark hair, which looked almost pure black when I saw him inside the Hub. I remember him staring at me at the Reaping. He and Brayde were both staring at me, along with Tanya and Jade. Daryn was eyeing everyone who was reaped but her eye was caught mostly on Sandra. Sandra looked too timid, frightened, and _stiff_ to even look at anyone. But I was mostly looking at her, because she's so small. I know she's taller than me by about an inch or so, but she's thinner than me. Her skinny arms made mine look thick; she makes my whole body look thick compared to her.

Jordan is double the size of Sandra. When I saw him at the Reaping and inside the Hub, he appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen. He's the same size as Axton and Brayde, but he's more built. Brayde is the tallest among us but Jordan is only a few centimeters shorter than him. Axton and Uriah are about the same size, but I think Axton's is a bit taller—probably only by like a millimeter. Brayde's golden-bronze hair makes my hair look pure white. His hair is the perfect kind of golden. I sometimes wish my hair was darker and much more golden.

"Get some sleep, Tris," says Uriah.

"No," I refuse, "I want you to tell me what's wrong with Axton and them. Please, tell me."

"Night Tris." he says and stands up, but before he can get out of the room, I raise my voice, "Wait,"

He turns around.

"Aren't you staying here with me?"

I want him to but at the same time, I don't. It would feel wrong for him to stay; however, if he did, we'd get to know each other a little better. We'd both trust each other more, we'd gain more trust on each other. I want him to trust me more. But after my bad dream, or whatever the hell it was, I'm afraid that I can't trust him anymore…

"Just get some sleep. It's almost morning anyways, and I'll be right here next door. You'll be okay. Night." And he's out of the room faster than the speed of light. It's not just about him staying with me. I really don't care but I do care about the trust we both have with each other. I'm not sure where all of the trust has gone but I no longer fully trust him at all. I just _can't _anymore.

When I wake up in the morning, my face feels cold, my legs and feet feel cold, my arms feel cold as I don't have them under my blanket because I have them across my stomach. The whole room feels chilly—I bet the whole train feels cold this morning.

I yawn while I stretch my arms and feet out. I check the time, and it reads _6:19_. I didn't get to sleep much after Uriah left the room, after I dreamt of him. I stayed up for about another hour after he had left, just thinking of him. I was thinking about how I will be able to trust him in the arena. I can't trust anyone; nobody. But I can trust Tobias; he's helped me through a lot.

I walk over to the furniture near the bed and grab the small brush that's placed on top and begin brushing my short hair. There's a mirror on the wall, upwards where the furniture is at, and I stare at myself. I stare into my blue eyes, my greyish blue eyes. I haven't looked at myself in the mirror deeply in a long time. When I was in Abnegation, I probably only saw a millisecond of me in the mirror for about one time every three years! I'm staring at myself for probably an hour when the door opens and I jump to see Uriah.

"Good morning, Tris," he smiles, "Did you sleep any better?"

"Um," I look at myself in the mirror for a second one more time and look back at him. "Yeah, I guess."

"By the way, I wouldn't go to the main room," he says and looks out into the hallway, and then back at me. "I think your brother's right there."

I almost choke on my own spit when he says "_my _brother". Caleb. He can't be here! He seriously can't. I knock the brush off the table and storm into the main room to see Tori, Johanna, Jack Kang, Marcus, and Caleb. All of the five people who were represented as leaders of each faction during the Reaping. I look at all five of them but my eye catches Johanna. I haven't seen her in days with the exception of Reaping Day. My eye wasn't focused on her because I was nervous that I couldn't focus on anything else. I bite my lip when I look at Marcus, because when I look at him, I think of Tobias. I basically left Tobias forever.

The five of them are sitting around a table that's near a huge rectangular window. I notice all of the objects flashing by and notice Caleb make eye-contact with me. I seriously cannot stand him. My fingernails meet the inside of hand, digging through the tissue and I can somehow feel blood tickling my fingertips. I clench my fist and next thing I know; I'm right beside him and knock his chair over. He falls on his back hard as the other four leaders gasp. I dip my hand in my pocket and feel an object; a knife. I flash it out and point it to his neck, touching it a little with the sharp tip.

"You worthless coward, you traitor," I'm sure I sound like a serial killer. "I hope you burn in hell."

As I press the knife slightly harder on his neck, someone grabs me and I drop the blade. Johanna plops down, takes a look at Caleb, and helps him up. His eyes meet mine, and I know that he's frightened by me. I seriously hope he is.

"If anyone's a coward, it's you!" Tori stands in front of me and that's when I discover that Marcus is the one holding me.

"Let me go!" I order him in a loud voice that the other tributes walk into the scene.

"And if anyone's a traitor, and I know that your brother betrayed you, it's you!"

That's when I feel Tori's thin hand make my head turn three-hundred and sixty degrees around.

"Get a hold of yourself!" she yells as Edith walks into the room.

"What on earth is going on in here?" she raises her voice.

"This tribute attacked Caleb Prior. She ran towards him and began attacking him." Marcus explains and finally gets the nerve to release me. But he's right, he's not lying. I basically attacked my own brother; however, it wasn't for any reason. I attacked him because he clearly deserved it. He betrayed _us_, he's a coward!

"Are you out of your mind, Beatrice?" Edith responds but it ticks me off that she called me Beatrice. Beatrice is not my name. I'm not a Stiff.

"Johanna, does she need your medicine?" she looks at Johanna. I know what _medicine _she's talking about.

"She'll be alright." Johanna sits back down.

I notice all of the other tributes looking at me. Both Axton and Brayde are looking right at _me_. Uriah is next to Brayde and he shakes his head when I look at him. I've disappointed him. I don't see Jordan and Sandra though, they must be in their own rooms still, because it'd be selfish to go look at something for their own enjoyment.

"Beatrice, can you explain this commotion that you just caused?" Edith enfolds her arms across her chest.

"It's him," I point at Caleb, "He's an idiot."

Edith sighs and all of the sudden, the train gets darker, and then lighter, and darker, and then lighter and stays that way. It decreases in speed and the rest of the tributes rush to the big rectangular window by the table. I hear shouting and cheering from the outside, and I also see the tributes wave at them. Uriah, Sandra, Jordan, and I are the only ones who don't go to the window, because I don't care what I see out there. I don't care about any of those people; they don't deserve to look at me. They're _all_ cowards.

"Mentors, get ready." Edith says, and the train moves into a stop.

Everyone's dressed weird. Nobody has the same clothing on but they do wear different styles from us, way different. Some people are dark, and some are super pale. Some of them have long eyelashes with pink or blue hair. Many of the men have light hair; red, blue, yellow, purple, black, or brown. Everyone here's weird, even the people who are called _Avoxes_—the ones who are cleaning and fixing us up—are dressed in a bizarre way. They don't talk at all either. Even when I speak to them, they don't answer.

"Can you not pull them too rough?" I ask the Avox who's plucking out my leg hairs.

She looks at me with her short crimson hair and long eyelashes. Her eyes are icy blue, kind of like mine, but hers are lighter. Her thin eyebrows are as thin as a line that a pencil makes. She shakes her head and continues to pluck out every single hair of my body.

Two of them wash and scrub my hair afterwards, and finally, they put me in small room. I lay on a small bed next to the wall with bright lights hitting me. The lights are too bright that my eyes feel like they are turning into flames. When I look to my right, I see a chair and hear the door opening. A man with a short braid, only going down to the bottom of his neck, walks in and sits on the chair, greeting me by shaking my hand. He's wearing a grey suit with black pants, his skin is pale, and his lips are thin and peach. His eyes are dark, darker than Tobias's, and his hair is dark. I sit up as he says, "You must be Beatrice Prior."

"It's Tris." I correct him, "And who are you?"

"I'm Ian, your stylist."

My stylist? I don't understand. Why do I have a stylist? Do I have to dress up in order to go into an arena where I'm going to get killed? I bite my lip and feel the sting on my skin where the Avox plucked my hairs out.

"I don't understand," I say.

"Let's just say I'm here to pizzazz you." he replies. "You need it badly."

I don't say anything but he laughs and adds, "Come on, Beatrice."

"It's Tris." I correct him again and follow him in order for him to "pizzazz" me.

**NOTES: What's up, guys? I'm back!:D Sorry I haven't updated; I haven't been home this past week, so I have no internet connection but I do right now, obviously. So anyway, this is the longest chapter I've written by far and I've been writing it this whole time. I've been taking my laptop everywhere just to write. I've also been getting a lot of reviews and some of them aren't too nice but you guys are just expressing each of your opinions. This chapter's pretty slow and I hope you guys enjoyed it! The next chapter will be up soon; I can't promise that it'll be up today or tomorrow but soon! So please bare with me and be patient! Thank you all and leave some reviews!:)**

**"Juliet's Shadow": I finally updated! I liked writing this chapter and I have good news for you! But the good news is in the next chapter though. But thank you so much!**

**"jakefan": Effie's not a cowgirl, obviously. But I am from Texas so I use "y'all" a lot so yeah. I'm not using that word anymore though so don't worry. And I hope you're enjoying this! Thank you!**

**"Guest (hi)": Like I said, I'm from Texas so I use "y'all" a lot but don't worry, I won't use the word anymore, just for you guys. I'm glad you're enjoying this story and I hope I can make it better for you!**

**"Guest (y'all um no)": "Y'all" "Y'all" "Y'all" I'm from Texas. I'm sorry but I do use that word on several occasions. But like I said in the previous responses, I won't use that word no more. I hope you're enjoying it now and I'm really sorry for using that word "a lot". But Thank you for reviewing and telling me your honest opinion! I needed your opinion!**

**"Guest": I didn't steal the part from the movie. Katniss did do the same maneuver she did in the movie, but she's angry at him for something else. It's my story and I wanted to put something like that. I'm sorry you didn't like that part and I know it wasn't too original but not everything's original. But I'm glad you told me your honest opinion. I need them badly.**

**"Guest (hate it)": Sorry if I come out rude, but if you don't like this story, then please don't read it. It's obviously MY story and I have my own creativity and imagination. Tobias was not reaped because I thought it'd be too corny to put him in. I want to create something new, and there will still be a LOT of Tobias later so don't worry. (For example, let's say if the last Divergent book, ****_Allegiant_****, ends with either Tobias or Tris dying. I'd be disappointed but I wouldn't "hate" the story all of the sudden. The author obviously would want it that way.) We all have our own imagination and we unleash it. So don't judge me and if this chapter didn't improve the story, then please stop reading. I'm sorry but it's true. However, thank you so much for telling me your opinion!**

**"Guest (am i the only)": Nope, you're obviously not. But thank you for stating your opinion nicely. I needed your advice and I did learn from these reviews! Thank you, and I hope you're enjoying this story!**

**"Guest (FourxTris)" "FourxTris" has NOT been ruined in this story. You don't know how this will end. Just because Uriah was reaped, it doesn't mean anything. He's just the male tribute for Dauntless. Besides, it's MY story and I can write whatever I feel like writing. It's my imagination and I'm unleashing it. But Tris and Four have not been ruined. Thank you for reviewing and sorry if I came out rude or anything but I'm just saying that the couple has not been destroyed. **

**"Fire at Darkness": Thank you so much and I won't follow the same plotline too much but sorry I took long to update but I'm here! And I hope to hear from you again! I'm glad you're loving this story and I hope it gets better for you! Thank you so much!**

**"FannieShipper": Thank you so much! Um, you'll find out if either Annie or Mags are going into the arena in the next chapter. And yeah! I went along and reaped Uriah because Tobias would be too obvious and "cheesy" so I wanted something new. But that doesn't mean that Tris and Tobias are done, just keep that in mind. But you'll find out about Annie or Mags in the next chapter:D Thank you for reviewing and please review again!:) I appreciate it:D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Katniss

I take a quick look at Peeta as he takes a view of me. He nods and offers me his hand. I look at the chariot and back at his black outfit. I'm wearing black as well but our outfits look like ash. I take Peeta's hand and he helps me up to the chariot. Cinna is behind us, telling us to "own it". I know what he means. He wants us to attract as many people as we can, that way, we'd get more sponsors. He wants us to "own it" like we did last year.

"One more thing," Cinna says and I notice two crowns on his hand. They look similar to the ones we were crowned with after we won the 74th Hunger Games. Cinna places one on me, and the other one on Peeta. I notice that I'm still holding his hand, but I don't mind.

"Wear these with great pleasure." Cinna adds and before Peeta and I can say anything afterwards, the Tribute Parade commences.

Everyone's cheering. They all cheer especially for District 1 and 2. When District 5 gets their turn, the cheering slows down and quiets down even more by the time District 7 goes along. People shout and cheer a little bit louder when District 8 rolls down, but when District 9, 10, and 11 have their turn, the cheering stops. But as soon as our chariot meets the huge crowd of all the people present, shouting breaks out.

Everybody stands on their feet and make a huge round of applause for us. I look at everyone and notice all of them throwing roses and flowers at us. I look at the rest of the district tributes and notice that they're all staring at us. I can see some of them glaring at us, even though they are yards away. Peeta's hand is touching mine but I don't yank it off or move it. I grab it first and raise it up in the air, showing the people that we're happy that we're from District 12.

When we're all lined up and have made our entrances, everyone turns around and another group of five chariots ride on the stage. The first two pairs have a grey chariot with two white horses pulling the two. The dark-skinned guy wears a simple white shirt but on the front of it has a circle with two hands touching each one. He wears his hair in a fuzzy way, and I notice his muscular arms. The light-skinned girl wears a grey and puffy dress with a huge hat that has the exact same drawing the guy has on his shirt. Both of them look too timid to do anything, hardly anyone cheers for them.

The second chariot is red and yellow, and the horses are brown. The male tribute appears to be a little boy. The female looks to be my age. Both of them are wearing the exact same thing, the costume looks like a tree rooted onto the chariot. Some people are cheering for them, but not as much as any of our Districts. The third chariot is black and white. The male tribute is large, like Cato and Thresh last year. His hair is golden bronze and his skin is also bronze to tan colored. He wears a fully white outfit with no accessories or anything. The female tribute is tan-skinned and has dark brown hair that only goes down to the bottom of her neck. She wears the same thing that the male tribute's wearing; simple and nothing else.

The fourth chariot is blue and on it, the male tribute wears a navy blue outfit with an eye in the center of a circle drawn on his silver crown. His hair is dark and short. He's light skinned and appears to be muscular. The female tribute is dark-haired with pale skin. She wears the same thing as the male but her outfit is a tight dress. The same symbol that the male wears on his crown is drawn on the dress of the female. She looks at the whole crowd with pure darkness in her eyes. I know I'm far away, but I can somehow still see them. Both of them raise their hands, like Peeta and I did, and cause the people to cheer and shout. The male tribute is smiling but the female isn't, and I don't think she will.

The crowd slows down when the last chariot begins its ride. I focus my eye on the horizon and notice a black chariot. My eyes widen and my skin suddenly has goose bumps on it. The crowd suddenly is screaming and clapping, probably even louder than when Peeta and I made our entrance. The horses are jogging faster than the rest of ours did and they're in flames! The chariot is also in flames but it's not melting or destroying—the horses aren't in pain either. I look at the male tribute and he's smiling, I catch a glimpse of his appearance and see that he has dark hair and bronze skin. He's tall compared to the female tribute. My hearts falls out of my body when I look at her. Her hair is suddenly on fire.

The crowd applauses even more and I hear many whistles that I feel like I'm going deaf. The chariot rapidly reaches its destination, only four chariots down from me and Peeta. The female's hair is no longer on fire and it hasn't turned into ashes either. It's blond and her skin is light. I notice three tattoos drawn on her collarbone; three birds. She's wearing a tight black dress, which reflects the black outfit that the male tribute wears.

I turn to look at Peeta and notice the amazed look on his face. Everyone's amazed, everyone.

"Welcome!" I look up to see President Snow on top of a huge balcony. "Tributes, we welcome most of you back, and Happy Hunger Games… and may the odds be ever in your favor."

I scowl when I look at him. Suddenly I remember when he visited me before the Victory Tour. I remember him telling me everything about the districts uprising against the Capitol, especially District 8. I also remember the riot that broke out when Peeta and I visited District 11 during the Victory Tour. The whole riot was my fault, all of it.

After the Tribute Parade, all of us tributes walk back inside and meet our mentors. Peeta and I don't see Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, or Portia anywhere. So we take a close look at our competition this year in person. I notice the brown-headed girl from District 7 who won a couple of years back when she pretended she was a weakling one until there were only a handful of tributes left, then showing that she can kill viciously. I remember watching that edition of the Games myself years behind. It wasn't too long ago though. Her name is Johanna Mason; she's fairly young, probably like five or six years older than me. I also catch a glimpse of the handsome male tribute from District 4. His name is Finnick Odair and wears bronze-colored hair that matches perfectly with his tan skin. Many of the women from the Capitol love him for dear life, and he's very popular and never had to do anything for sponsors, due to his natural beauty. The main reason why he gets so much attention from the Capitol is because he won the 65th Hunger Games at the age of only fourteen.

One thing many of the women from the Capitol are drawn away with is Finnick's sea green eyes. Now that's something that is naturally impressive.

I see the female tribute from District 4 standing next to Finnick and notice that I think I've seen her in the past games. She wears flowing brown hair and I notice her green eyes. She looks to be about Finnick's age, probably younger. But I know that they might have a "thing" going on as I see Finnick holding her hand. Both of them look good together, and she looks lovely and sweet. However, that loveliness and sweetness is dangerous in the arena as the other tributes could find her as an easy target…

She makes eye-contact with me and I rapidly look away to see the male and female tribute from one of the unfamiliar districts. The two of them were on the very last chariot of the parade and I can see a look of her blue eyes, but at the same time, they look grey. Her hair is blond, just the way it was after it was on fire. I think maybe she can be the new "girl on fire" this year, because I know that I'm not. She looks to be a little shorter than me but not by too much—after all, I'm not even tall. Next to her is a handsome tall guy who appears to be seventeen or probably eighteen. But I wouldn't be surprised if he was sixteen or fifteen! He's good looking and the color of bronze covers his skin. His hair is dark and reflects his dark eyes.

"Alright, you guys did great just now," I hear Haymitch and feel his hand touch my shoulder. "Just keep it up, and the both of you might just get more sponsors."

I look back at the two tributes from the last chariot and notice both of them staring at me right when Peeta, Effie, Haymitch, Portia, Cinna, and I commence walking to our rooms.

Since the five other unfamiliar districts are part of the Games this year, we don't get the highest room at the top—as a matter of fact, the two tributes from the last chariot get the highest room of the building.

"Well, I missed this glorious place and now we're back," Effie says after we arrive to our room. It isn't much different to last year's but even though I was scared to death last year, I quite enjoyed the stay—if only it was like that in all of the districts.

"Well I guess the both of you can choose your own rooms." Haymitch says before he pops a bottle open—that was placed on the glass table—and pours it on a glass cup.

I look at Peeta and he leads me to my room. I look around and all I can think of is _same_. It's the exact same thing as last year's but I'm not complaining.

"You want this one or do you want to look at the other one?" Peeta asks. I'm fine with this one, honestly.

"This one's good," I say, "Thanks."

He nods and goes for the other room. I look around and walk over to the giant window that lets me take a view of parts of the Capitol. It's nice, especially at night. I see many parties going on almost every inch I see. Right now, if I wasn't reaped or if this wasn't the special event that the Quarter Quell would consist, I'd be at home, tucking Prim to bed even though she's growing up now. She's still my little sister and will always be my little duck. No matter how old she is.

I let the water run down my hair, letting all of the particles that they sprayed on my hair today run down to the drain. Like the train, this water is warm and feels good when it drops on my naked body. I scrub my legs with the fancy soap the Capitol has set up for us, which smells amazingly good, and scrub my arms and chest.

After a towel pops up from a small machine that's set up next to the shower, I rub it hard on my body and let it absorb any drips of water. I haven't felt a towel in ages and forgot how good it feels after being in water. I press a code on the machine to send a red shirt with black pants, along with a pair of underwear. I don't see why the Capitol doesn't let us pack and bring clothes from home; maybe they can use that for the next set of tributes.

I hear a tapping on the door after I change into my outfit and see Peeta standing by the doorway.

"Can I come in?" he asks and takes a step in before I can say anything.

"Come on ahead," I respond. "Did you shower?"

"Yeah," he says, "That outfit that Cinna styled for us is surprisingly comfortable but it made me sweat a lot."

"Mine didn't," I say and brush my hair. "But as soon as you went to your room, I hopped into the shower because I felt… dirty."

"Dirty?" Peeta chuckles.

I look at him and he quickly stops laughing because he knows that it has been a long day. I still can't believe I attacked him this morning in the train. All because he's trying to protect me. He's being a gentleman, but it's just not fair to him. However, I feel too terrible to let all of that go.

"Hey, you know how I choked you a little this morning?" I ask and know that he does remember.

He remains quiet.

"Well I'm really sorry and it won't happen again. I'll try."

He still doesn't speak but walks over to me and wraps his arms around me, pulling me to his chest, his hard chest.

"Don't be sorry," he whispers in my ear, "Please don't be."

I see Effie standing in front of the doorway while Peeta hugs me. She smiles a little before she says, "Dinner's ready!"

I love the Capitol's dinner. I hope it's as good as last year's. But I can't eat comfortably and enjoyably knowing that Prim, my mother, and Gale are hungry for a simple loaf of bread.

Cinna is sitting next to Portia, while Haymitch is on the far end of the table. I assume Effie will sit on the other end and I'm correct as I see her walk over and take her seat. Peeta and I sit next to each other and there's a pig in the middle of the table. It looks like the same pig I shot the apple out of last year. I shocked everyone and angered Effie terribly. But that's what got me a score of 11.

"Training starts tomorrow," says Haymitch. "So the both of you need to be ready."

I bite my lip because I know that we've got hard competition this year—past victors and ten additional tributes. I'm not afraid of any of them though, because I know that I am strong enough for them. I may have won last year because of my suicide attempt with Peeta, but that won't happen this year if it's not necessary. I'm the girl on fire and I need to do whatever I can to stay on fire.

**NOTES: Next chapter! I started this one days ago as well and I just finished it so here it is! I really enjoyed writing this chapter because I love describing people. I didn't describe all of them because it's not necessary but I described most of them; most of the important ones at least. Well in the next chapter, the training starts and we'll probably see the tributes meeting!:D but we're getting closer and closer to the Games (which I'm super excited to write about!). I hope this is getting better for all of you and I love you all! P.S. Thanks to all of you and a special thanks to all of my favorited authors and follows! Please review!:D**

**"Juliet's Shadow": Yay! I'm glad you're liking this! I don't know when I'll update the next chapter but it'll be here! But thanks a lot for helping a lot and stuff! You're a helpful and great friend!:D**

**"jakefan": Really?:D I'm glad you think that way! I didn't think I was doing too good of a good job integrating both universes together but you made me feel better! I'm trying really hard to make this story good and I hope you like it even more!:D Thank you so much!**

**"lollipop (Guest)": I'm excited that you love this! Thank you! And please review again!:D**

**"divergentdandelion": Yay! You're loving this! Well here's the next update! And thank you for reviewing and please review again!:D I hope it's also getting way better for you:D **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Tris

After the Tribute Parade, that's what Tori said it's called, we arrived to our room where we will stay at for two weeks. We didn't do much but eat dinner—we had turkey with chicken breasts. Surprisingly, the food was better than the one we get at the Dauntless compound or at Abnegation headquarters. However, nothing beats Dauntless cake.

We're in training right now, lined up while a dark-skinned lady named, Atala, explains to us how the training process works. I take a look at the rest of the tributes and see many of them who look to be about three to four times my age! Tori was talking to us about the victors of last year's Hunger Games. Usually, there's only one victor but last year, there was two because the female tribute pulled out berries that are called _nightlock_ and threatened everyone she and the male tribute from her district would eat them. Nightlock berries kill you instantly after you eat them as Tori stated. There are chemicals and some sort of poisonous particles in them that are not suitable for your body. Tori then told us that the head Gamemaker, the person who controls the Games, was killed by the President. His name was Seneca Crane. The reason why he was killed was because he let both of the tributes win. I don't understand what's wrong with that but it's bad, like Tori said.

The training is nothing compared to Dauntless initiation. So this is like a piece of Dauntless cake for me and especially for Uriah. There's no chasm here but there are knives. Who knows? Maybe I'll have to stand by a target and let one of the tributes throw knives at it, without me flinching.

I chew on my lower lip as I see one of the tributes that has bronze hair and tan skin. His eyes are green, kind of like the sea. His arms are muscular and he's tall, kind of tall like Tobias. As a matter of fact, he reminds me of Tobias. The tribute stands next to a girl who looks timid and shy. Her hair is brown and she kind of reminds me of Sandra. However, this girl is thicker than Sandra. Sandra stands next to Jordan, who stands next to Axton and Daryn. Axton licks his upper lip as he looks at me. I glare and look away to see two tributes that look to be probably fifty or sixty. The male has dark skin but not too dark. His hair is dark and he's a little short but taller than me, that's for sure. Felix is the shortest one here, and the absolute youngest. Tori told us that he is only twelve years old! Now that's something that proves braveness.

We stand in line in front of set of bars. We have to go through them as fast as we can and I remember doing something like that once during Dauntless initiation. This isn't challenging.

Everyone goes through them fast but not the male and female tributes that look like they're fifty. The female tribute, as a matter of fact, released herself from the bars and failed that station. When it's my turn, I pop my neck by moving my head sideways hard and pop my knuckles. I jump to the first bar and move to the second, then to the third and make it through all twenty of them quickly. After that, we're ordered to run to the next station, which is throwing two knives to two targets. Many of the tributes miss the target by a lot but as it reaches my turn, I grip the knife that I hold in my left hand and swing it to the target on the right, letting the knife fly to the red circle and everyone hears the thud it makes. I hit the red circle.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I squeeze the other knife with my right hand. I open my eyes and I release the knife as I let it hit the next target, right in the middle. I don't turn back to see any of the other tributes' expressions but I dash to the next station which is nothing else much. I see a set of bow and arrows but I've never used one so I don't go for it. I look around and see no guns but I think I know why there are no guns during training.

I see three knives on the floor with a sharp blade and I don't hesitate, so I pick them up and look at the shiny blades. I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do so I look around and spot Uriah running towards me.

"What do we do now?" I ask.

"Just practice your skills." he says and before I can say anything else, he picks up a huge sword and throws it at the target that's a few feet away from us. He made it right in the corner of the circle. I balance one of the knives on my right hand, position it to where it points the target, and pitch it to where it hits again the middle of the target. Uriah claps twice and enfolds his arms across his chest again before I toss the next knife next to the first one. I take a look at the third and last one and tell Uriah, "Watch this."

I close my eyes and keep them that way as I feel my arm stretch out and hear the knife thud on the board. I open my eyes to see all three of them lined up together right on the target before I turn to Uriah and say, "I wasn't even trying with that one."

After the first day of training Uriah and I meet Tori in the hall, along with Ian and Kara, Uriah's stylist.

"You two will train tomorrow and the next day, after that, there will be a private session will you will show them what you've got." Tori says.

_Them_.

Who are _them_? The citizens? The Gamemakers?

"I'll see you guys at the penthouse." Tori adds and walks away, along with Ian and Kara.

I bite my lip because I don't know if I have what it takes to show _them _what they want. Tori told us yesterday that they take a close look at you to see how good you are with whatever you can do. After that, they score you by any number. She told us that once, a winning tribute from the past Games only got a score of 3. Everyone was shocked during that period. Maybe I'll get a three.

"Let me go get a drink," Uriah says before I suddenly feel someone's warm breath tickling the back of my ear.

"Want a sugar cube?" the deep voice says.

I turn around and see complete beauty. I stare into his deep sea green eyes, followed by his perfectly shaped lips and bronze hair. His tan skin makes mine look as white as a sheet of paper—his skin is perfect.

"I've never tried one," I say.

"Well follow me and I'll lead you to one," he gives me a seductive smile.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I laugh a little.

"Hey, I'm not asking you out. I'm just offering you a snack. Come on, you'll love them. They're my favorite."

I smile again and follow him as he leads me to a table full of food. I haven't seen this much food in my life. There are a bunch of snacks and meals packed on the huge table. The food looks delicious as well. I look around for the sugar cubes and find them.

"Here," the handsome guy tosses one to me. "Are you from those Faction things?"

I nod.

"What's your name?" he adds as he shoves an entire cube in his mouth.

"Tris," I say, "Tris Prior. What's yours?"

"Nice name," he smiles, "And I'm Finnick, Finnick Odair but you call me sexy."

I laugh and shake my head saying, "I'm good."

"I'm sure you've heard of me," he says.

I haven't obviously. I raise an eyebrow as he says, "You know, I won the 65th Hunger Games when I was only fourteen?"

I raise my eyebrow even more and take a small bite out of my sugar cube. It's surprisingly delicious but they're not my favorite. Dauntless cake is.

"I haven't," I say, "But that's impressive."

He laughs and before he says anything else, his eye attaches to something behind me. I turn around and see the girl that I saw him holding hands with during the beginning of the training session. She's good-looking and her hair is perfect. Her body is also perfect as she walks straight towards us.

"Annie," he smiles and puts the last sugar cube back on the table.

"Hey Finnick," Annie smiles and blushes a little.

"Uh…" Finnick looks down, then at me, then back at Annie, "Uh this is my friend Tris here."

_Friend._

Annie looks at me and smiles, saying, "Hi, I'm Annie Cresta. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi," I smile too," It's nice to meet you too."

I shake her hand twice and move so they're next to each other. I know that Finnick truly likes her, because his expression rapidly changed when she walked towards us. She's also a really sweet girl by the way she greeted me. I look at them with my arms folded across my chest and I see the way both of them are blushing when they talk to each other, especially Finnick. They both look perfect for each other, it's like they were made for each other.

"Meeting other tributes?" Uriah's hand touches my shoulder and I jump.

"Oh hey," I say, "And um, yeah, I guess. I met those two. They're cute, aren't they?"

"Yeah but they're not as good as you and Tobias."

I look at him when he says that. He actually thinks Tobias and I look good together. I thought he liked me, I mean, I don't want him to but I thought he did.

"Well, you and Marlene were a cute couple," I know that I shouldn't have said that. I really shouldn't have because now I see Uriah's eyes getting a little watery. I miss Marlene and I know that he misses her terribly.

"Oh I'm really sorry, Uriah," I apologize, "I'm sorry."

I look away to see Finnick and Annie again. But after I turn around, Uriah's not behind me; he's walking away, probably up to the penthouse.

I sigh.

"God, I'm an idiot." I whisper to myself, looking up at the ceiling.

I lay in the dark thinking of everything. I think of leaving Tobias behind, leaving Christina behind; leaving everyone behind. It feels like the Choosing Ceremony all over again when I left my family to go to Dauntless. I left my own father and father, both Caleb and I did. But Caleb left all of us completely. He's got nothing.

I pull the thick sheets closer to my neck when I suddenly see the door opening. I see a tall muscular guy but it's not Uriah. He's not wearing a shirt or any pants either. I can see his tattoo of the symbol of the five factions on his back when he closes the door. _He's _here.

"Tobias?" I whisper amazed, "Tobias?"

"Hey Tris," I see his smile under all the darkness. "I came to visit you."

I smile and bite my lip but I wonder why he's only wearing his underwear. I don't care though.

He approaches me and all of the sudden, he's on top of me, kissing me everywhere, especially my neck and chest. He runs his hands all over my body and next thing I know, he's removing my shirt after he touches my chest.

"Stop," I order him because I think he's going too far, "Tobias, stop."

He's not stopping, he successfully removes my shirt when all of the sudden, my pants and underwear are off, and so is his underwear.

"Tobias, stop!"

I jump out of the bed; he's not here. I look at the other side. He's absent. I'm look at my body and thankfully, I'm not nude. I also don't see a nude Tobias anywhere in my room.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath saying, "Calm down, calm down."

I can't seem to get these nightmares out of my head. I thought I wasn't afraid of Tobias anymore. But I guess I am again. I don't know. Maybe I'm just going insane because I feel crazy. I feel like my head is spinning because I'm going toward every direction. I hop back onto my bed and pull the sheets over my whole body and see complete darkness until I completely shut my eyes for night.

**NOTES: Well I gotta say that I really enjoyed writing this chapter! It was actually kind of... fun writing about Finnick and Annie for some particular reason... I don't know. The next chapter will probably not be up tomorrow, maybe later or the day after tomorrow. There's a higher chance it'll be updated the day after tomorrow so please be patient!:D But yeah, Tris and Uriah are finally meeting the other tributes! And about Tris having nightmares about both Tobias and Uriah, here are the reasons: 1-She's scared to step into the arena full of victors from the past (she's not afraid of the tributes from the factions though). 2-She's just confused about everything. She feels like she can't trust Uriah or Tobias. She feels like everyone is her enemy now. So yeah, please don't judge me about the the last scene (which I do agree was pretty intense) but thank you all and please review!:)**

**"Juliet's Shadow": Haha more Finnick and Annie! I hope this is getting better for you! And about the allies thing, you'll have to see;D**

**"Rabecka99": You seriously made my day yesterday; like seriously, I couldn't stop smiling for like three hours. You made me want to write even more! Thank you so much! And I hope this is getting better for you! Can't wait to hear from you again!:)**

**"lollipop": Yay! I'm glad you think it'll be fantastic! I hope it is for you guys! I'm doing all this just for all of you!:D thank you!:)**

**"KatnissTris": Thank you! I'm glad you're liking this story very much but yeah, I do agree with you that it's kind of "annoying" that Tris is looking like she's the next "Girl on Fire" but trust me, she's definitely not. Katniss is, and she's the Mockingjay as well. So yeah, I'm also trying to make both of them the strong leads because both of them are strong heroines and that's also why I'm writing from both of their perspectives. So yeah... Please review again! And once again, thank you!:D**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Katniss

Yesterday's training wasn't too hard, because we almost did the exact same thing we did last year. I feel like I'm reliving everything, judging by how it's all moving. We're divided into groups today; five different groups, seven tributes in each; however, one group has six tributes. My group has seven tributes.

Peeta is in one of the other groups though, so I'm not training with him today. I'm paired with both of the tributes from District 10, the female tribute from District 9, the male tribute from District 6, and both tributes from District 1,_ the Careers_.

We're gathered together in a circle watching two tributes at a time, practicing their sword fighting. It doesn't matter if it's a mixed gender practice, it all goes. Right now, the male tribute from District 1 and the male tribute from District 10 are practicing with their sword fighting on each other. District 1's male's sword hits the other sword hard and fast that I'm afraid he might accidentally stab the male tribute from 10 in the eye. But District 1's male is a Career and has been training for a long while. Next up is the female tribute from District 9 and me. I swallow my own spit hard as I take a step onto the mat and grab the sword. It's only at about twenty-inches long but it looks too sharp. It's also too shiny that I'm afraid I might get distracted by the light and I'll get my eye stabbed out. _I don't use swords, obviously_.

The tribute looks at me with her deep brown eyes. Her black hair is tied into a ponytail and she suddenly reminds me of Clove. Clove was a vicious little one, but I know that Clove could kill me at any second. As a matter of fact, she would've if Thresh wouldn't have killed her first. She starts hitting my sword as I swing mine to hit hers. The process isn't too hard but the bright light that reflects on the blade is distracting me. However, I keep going until time runs out and the trainer says, "Next!"

After everyone has gone, we move onto the next station, which is climbing a huge thick net that hangs diagonal from the floor to the top of the room. The reason we do that process is to teach us how to climb in case there are a lot of trees or mountains in the arena. I don't need help climbing though; I climbed several trees during the Games last year, so this should be a pretty simple process. I know that if Rue was still alive, she would enjoy this station, because she's the best climber and "tree-hopper" that I knew.

I'm the last one in line. Everyone climbed the net successfully except for the female tribute from District 10. She fell hard on the ground halfway going up, and I don't blame her.

Slowly, I grab and hold on to the thick rope material and step on the available spot on the net. I pull myself harder and harder; prompter and prompter until I look down and notice that I'm already halfway there. I look up again and see that the net leads to the top balcony of the room, so I see the remainder of the tributes on top just eyeing and waiting for me to reach my destination. I keep doing the same process and technique I'm using until I finally reach the goal. It wasn't too hard but it wasn't too easy either.

Next, we run down to the center of the room again and find different kinds of supplies set up—like yesterday. We can get any weapon and item that you're good with and practice on it. I see a pair of bow and arrows on the center of the supplies but before I can even touch them, a hand touching my arm.

"What are you doing?" the deep voice says and I look up to see his blue eyes and blond hair. "These are mine, make your own."

He's the male tribute from District 1. He and the female tribute from District 1 are the classically beautiful brother and sister from District 1 who were victors to sequential years when I was little. His sister wears the same blond hair that he wears; they're pretty much two clones with different gender roles.

"Don't you know who I am?" he asks.

I do but I can't remember his or his sister's name for some precise reason.

"Gloss? My sister's name is Cashmere. I know that you know," he says with a mean and rude tone.

"Get out of my way." he adds and shoves me out of his way. I suddenly remember Glimmer and Marvel because probably both Gloss and Cashmere were their mentors during their reign.

I look at the supplies and see an arrow. I quickly get it and walk over to one of the mats with a board a few feet away. I look at the target and stretch my arm out to release the arrow, letting it travel straight towards the circle. I don't make it in the center of the circle but I do make it to the corner of it. I look back and see that Gloss and Cashmere are looking at me, but I wanted both of them to see.

After the training session, I walk over to Peeta in the hallway and tap his shoulder, startling him a little.

"How was training?" he asks.

"Boring," I respond, "It was basically the same thing as last year. I know all this stuff."

"Who were you grouped with?" he responds.

"Both of the tributes from Districts 1 and 10, the girl from 9, and the guy from 6."

He nods slowly as I ask, "Who all was in your group?"

"Well I had that Finnick guy from District 4, both of the tributes from District 3, the girl from the Tribute Parade who had her hair on fire, and both tributes from 5."

When he says "the girl from the tribute parade who had her hair on fire," I open my eyes wide and don't hesitate but to ask, "Do you know what her name is? The girl that had her hair on fire."

I actually want to know what her name is—I mean I do want to meet all of the tributes from this year. But for some reason, I want to know who that girl is. She made such an incredible entrance at the Tribute Parade—like Peeta and I did last year—but I feel like more citizens have an eye on her more. The citizens probably have an eye on both her and the male tribute more than they do Peeta and I. But I know that I still have plenty of people with their eyes on me, because I created a rebellion.

"I talked to her for a little bit when we were practicing the skills that we're good at. She's really good with knives by the way! But uh, her name is Tris Prior," Peeta states.

_Tris Prior._

I start to wonder why we never included their section of the country in the Games. I mean, obviously they've been in their society for a lengthy amount of time. But my question is why were they excluded from the rest of us? _Why_?

"Is she nice?" I ask and realize that I sound like an annoying twat.

"Yeah, she's great."

For some reason, I feel something that I've never felt before about Peeta. I feel a sensation of enviousness… _This isn't good_.

"Whoa," someone suddenly bumps into me. I look into his dark eyes and dark hair, attached to his bronze skin. He's tall, taller than Peeta and I, and his smile is white against his perfect bronze skin.

"Sorry," he says, "I need to watch where I'm going."

"It's fine," I say, "Don't worry about it."

He looks at Peeta with a bizarre look when he says, "Wait, weren't you in Tris's group? You're Peeta, right?"

Peeta looks puzzled and I am as well.

"Yeah?" says Peeta. "What's your name?"

"I'm Uriah," the handsome guy says, "She was telling me that you're good at lifting and throwing stuff."

"Oh really?" Peeta responds.

"Yeah," Uriah says and turns to look at me, "Are you Katniss? Katniss Everdeen?"

"Yeah," I smile a little, "Yeah how do you know?"

He grins as he says, "Tris told me that Peeta was talking about you."

Peeta talking about _me_? Me? I bite my lip to keep myself from saying anything stupid, because I feel like I'm going to say something that I probably shouldn't. I hope Peeta didn't say anything good about me. As a matter of fact, I just hope he didn't talk much about me, because I don't want him to talk about me to other people. I'm not the only person in his world; he can talk about someone else more important than me, someone better than me.

"Really?" I simply respond.

Uriah nods his head before he says, "I heard you're a complete badass. But I have to go; I guess I'll see the two of you tomorrow."

Within a blink of an eye, he's off and disappears from the hallway. He seems nice and Tris does too. I know for sure that Tris will entertain all of these people—I don't have to entertain anyone because like Peeta said, _I don't want to be a piece of their games. I don't want them to own me; I want to still be me whether if I live or die_.

"What were you saying about me?" I blurt out to Peeta.

"Nothing," I know he just lied, "I was just telling her that you're good at the bow and arrow, and stuff."

"And stuff…" I repeat and look down at the ground, "I don't want you talking to anyone about me, you got it?"

He backs away a little; I know that I'm intimidating him. I am intimidating him—I'm such an intimidating person sometimes.

"There's nothing wrong with me doing that, Katniss," he expresses, "It'd be a different story if I was saying bad stuff about you, but I'm not. Besides, you're all this and that; Ms. Girl on Fire and all the people's talk while I'm just the poor Bread Boy."

I don't know what to say. Never in this past year did I ever know that Peeta felt that way. But why would he want to be in my position? We're pretty much placed in the same position. I just sparked a huge rebellion. _Every revolution begins with a spark_.

I lower my head and swallow a ration of my spit.

"I don't know," I say because I don't know what else to say. "I guess I'll see you upstairs."

I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it. Somehow, I just don't like it that Peeta's talking about me. It's not that I don't want him to… but it's something else. I don't want people thinking that I'm a "badass" like Uriah said. Somehow, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I'm not this and that; I'm not a goddess. I'm just _me_. I'm not important and big enough to be talked about. I just want everything to go completely back to normal—like it was before this whole mess happened. I just hope that that could happen one day.

That one day, _everything will be back to how it was._

**NOTES: Here's Chapter 16! Sorry I couldn't update yesterday; it was 4th of July and I had a bunch of stuff to do. So um anyway, this chapter's pretty slow and stuff, and honestly, I didn't really enjoy writing this one and I have no possible idea why! Haha, and it's really rushed so it's pretty much crap; I'm so sorry! Please don't judge me. Anyway, thank you all and I hope you guys had a great 4th of July! Hope you all have a great day and please leave a review!:)**

**"Juliet's Shadow": Yeah! Finnick and Annie! But frankly, there was no Finnick and Annie in this chapter:( but I did mention Finnick once!;D but not good enough. Haha anyway, thank you so much! You're the best!**

**"Rabecka99": Here's the next chapter! It's crappy and I'm sorry but I hope you enjoyed it and I'm really happy to be the moderator for your forum!:D**

**"Guest": Thank you so much! You're really sweet! I really love responding to all of my reviews; as a matter of fact, when I get one and I see the mail thingy on my phone light up, I get so happy and excited that look like a retarded seal:P Haha but thank you! I appreciate it!**

**"Fournick": Haha, I'll try just for you! But thank you and I hope to hear from you again!:D**

**"Guest": If my writing is "sloppy" and "predictable" for you, then please stop reading. Also, if you're going to leave a negative review on my story or on anybody else's, have the courage to sign in and show who you are; I'd like to see your writing style and see how much of pro you must be. I know that I'm not the best writer, and I'm obviously not Veronica Roth or Suzanne Collins, but I do try! Another thing, "ooc" I assume that means "Out-of-character", (I can see how much a good writer you are since you're not using proper language) like I said, I'm NOT the author of ****_Divergent _****or ****_The Hunger Games_****! I don't have the same writing style for the characters as the two authors do! This is a "Fan-Fiction" story, and I don't see anyone who writes the same as the authors. We ALL have different writing styles and we also didn't create these characters, so we're not going to write them exactly like they are in the books. I know I'm coming out rude in this but you stated your opinion (which I highly appreciate) and I'm stating mine now. Next time, if you're going to leave a negative review on someone's story or on mine again, have the balls to sign in and show who you are! Don't be a sissy and leave a review as a "Guest". Sorry, I know that was rude but it's true. I'm trying my hardest to make this a good story for you to come to my in as a "Guest" and say something negative about it. (P.S. Yeah, I'm sure I'm a sloppy writer, judging by all of these reviews that say I have a highly good writing style. But hey, it's your opinion and I respect it. Thank you for reviewing and have a nice day!)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Tris

Today's the last day of training. Tori said that they'll take a closer look at us tomorrow in a private session. She told us that we have to show them everything that we have in order to earn a high rating score.

I sit quietly on the bed with my head lowered, looking down at the shiny and fancy hard floor. I'm not used to waking up by myself as I usually was awakened by Tobias or Christina.

Christina.

The last time I saw her was when Edith was announcing the Grand Opening World Ceremony. Christina looked like she didn't want to talk to me or anybody else. She was probably mad at me again—probably Will popped into her mind again, and she saw me as a killing demon.

I'm already dressed and ready for training but I'm just waiting for Tori or Uriah to come in to tell me that it's time to go. Yesterday, Uriah came into my room to tell me that it was time. I remember because I was already awake; it was when I had that dream about Tobias. I was frightened and couldn't go to sleep, so I pretty much didn't. I maybe only slept for like ten minutes for the rest of the night and that's about it. I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling as if he was going to fly out of there. It looks like my fear about him just came back…

That morning, I didn't get dressed or washed and rinsed up until Uriah came into the room and told me that training started in ten minutes. We made it in time though; however, we didn't train together, because we were separated into five groups. We were in groups of seven tributes but one of the groups, the one Uriah was in, had only six tributes due to the uneven number division.

Surprisingly, I didn't have any trouble training, despite the fact that I didn't get enough sleep the previous night. Everyone kept staring at me and eyeing me close when I was training with knives. I even met the handsome victor of last year's Hunger Games when he saw me train with knives. He was impressed and made his way towards me.

"You're really good at knives," he said, "It's unbelievable."

I didn't know who it was until I turned around and saw his blue eyes and blond hair. I saw nothing but a handsome guy standing right in front of me. He was a little taller than me and much more muscular, obviously.

"Thank you," I smiled and continued to aim at the targets.

"I'm Peeta Mellark. I'm from District 12," he reached his hand towards me and I didn't hesitate but to shake it.

"I'm Tris Prior. I'm from one of the Factions; my faction is Dauntless."

He nodded and that's when we began talking about each other. I told him a few things about the Dauntless compound: what it is, how it works, a few things that we would do, and some of the things I faced there. I told him the story about me standing by the target, letting Tobias throw knives at it without me flinching. He was amazed at the story and called me "Brave".

He then told me about him: about how he worked at a bakery shop at District 12, the Games last year, and about a girl named Katniss Everdeen. He said that she was good at the bow and arrow, kind of like how I am with knives. He also said that she was considered "The Girl on Fire" because she and he made an entrance at the Tribute Parade last year, and they were literally on fire. Katniss attracted many people and sponsors.

Tori said that Sponsorship involves a mentor, with the help of the escort, procuring useful tools for the tributes from the Capitol, their family, and friends in their district through donations from sponsors. Tributes are sponsored based on their first impression at the opening ceremonies, training scores, impression in the interviews, performance in the arena, as well as a number of other factors.

Peeta also said that it was Katniss who pulled out the nightlock berries. He didn't want to kill her; he was sure she didn't want to kill him either. That's why she pulled out the berries, so they could both die, not having a victor that year. But the former Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, didn't let that happen, so he announced both Peeta and Katniss, the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.

I hear a tapping at the door. Uriah. He walks in holding a huge dish with two burritos on it.

"Tris," he says with his mouth full. "Eat something before we go. There's breakfast on the table in the Penthouse."

"I'm not hungry," I say. I am hungry, but I don't want to eat. I don't feel like eating—even though I'm hungry, I just don't feel like eating.

"Well suit yourself," he says, "This is delicious. It's better than the food we get back at the Dauntless compound."

He may be right but like I said before, _nothing _beats Dauntless cake.

"Ready?" he says after he finishes up the two burritos quickly.

I nod and we make our way out of the door and that's when I see all of the food placed on the table. I see eggs with bacon bits on them. I see a stack of thick pancakes, all different kinds: blueberry, chocolate chip, strawberry, and much more. I turn to the door so I won't have to see the delicious food and head for today's training.

We're not into groups today, or partners. Instead, we're practicing with random objects, like we've been doing after we do our stations. I spot the set of knives that I've been using these past two days but for some reason, I don't want to use them today. I think I've practiced on them enough—it's time for something new.

I see a pair of bow and arrows next to the knives and I bite my lip. I've never used a bow and arrow before, never. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen anyone at any faction use a bow and arrow. Abnegation hardly uses weapons, hardly ever; never. Amity uses peace serum, while Candor hardly uses anything as well. The Erudite use serums and simulations, while the Dauntless, including Uriah and I, use any weapon that we can find, mainly guns and knives.

I walk over to take the bow and arrow when an olive colored hand touches it at the same time as mine does. I look over to see into her grey eyes and her long braid. She's small, almost like me but I'm still smaller, her hair is dark, super dark compared to my blond hair. I release the bow and arrow as she gets it for herself and keeps staring at me as if she's under a simulation, looking at me as an enemy or something.

Looking at her eyes and braid, she looks familiar. I've never seen her in real life but I've seen her in my head, in my thoughts when Peeta described her yesterday. She's exactly like he described her—small, dark hair and mostly wears it in a braid style, has grey eyes with the color of olive covering all of her skin. I rub my arm to make all of the goose bumps go away, due to the slight coldness of the room. I can't even blink an eye because I can't stop looking at her; she seems like she can't blink either because she won't stop staring at me.

I don't know what to say other than, "Hi," which is probably something that I shouldn't have said.

"This is awkward," I offer my right hand to her. "I'm Tris, Tris Prior. You probably don't recognize me because I'm not from any of the districts. I'm not here from Panem; I'm from the Dauntless compound, one of the five factions from my society."

She shakes my hand twice and I still see the strange look on her face. I don't say anything else until she responds saying, "I'm Katniss Everdeen. I'm from District 12."

I was right. And I knew that I was right.

"Yeah," I smile, "I kind of knew it was you already, because the guy from your district was talking to me about you yesterday. He's a really nice guy and really admires you."

She shakes her head as she grins a little. Peeta told me that even though she may not seem like the type of girl to murder someone, she can hurt you at any second with her bow and arrow.

"I kind of know who you are as well," Katniss says, "Peeta told me a little about you too. He told me that you're really good with knives."

"He talked about me?" I chuckle, "Ha-ha, he's a gentleman. But I wouldn't say I'm really good at them. I've just used them a lot back at the Dauntless compound. We use a lot of knives there; as a matter of fact, once, a guy got stabbed in the eye with one."

Katniss's eyes widen when I tell her about what happened to Edward. Her district or any of the districts don't seem to do the same kind of stuff we do. _We are hellions_, like my father would describe the Dauntless as. I'm a hellion.

"That's insane," she says, "What's the Dauntless compound anyway?"

I tell her what it is, what we do, how it functions, the list; basically everything I told Peeta yesterday. Except, I tell Katniss much more, since we have enough time to talk. I tell her about Al, about how me and him were getting close until he helped Peter and Drew kidnap and almost kill me, proving that he was a complete coward. But was he a coward for taking his own life?

I tell her about the simulation that occurred as she practices on her bow and arrow, and I continue to practice on the knives that I didn't want to use in the first place. Her expression changes when I tell her about my father and mother's deaths.

"Both of your parents are dead?" she questions with a serious tone.

I nod.

"My dad died a couple of years ago," she says and I somehow feel pity on her. "All I have now is my mother, my sister Prim, and my best friend Gale."

"What about Peeta?" I ask.

She stays quiet for a little bit and before she can shoot her last arrow, she says, "… And him too." And she shoots her last arrow right on the target, right on the center of the red circle.

"So you don't have a brother or anything?" she asks. Hate suddenly strikes me again, but I can't hate my own brother. A powerful rage is forming in me that I can't stop it; I feel controlled. I feel like Caleb is somehow controlling me.

"I have a brother," I simply say, "I don't want to talk about him though."

"Do you know the guy from your faction?" she responds, meaning Uriah.

"I do. I've known him basically ever since I transferred to Dauntless. He's a great guy to be around with."

Uriah is a great guy. I may not trust him as much as I need to but I know that I can trust him somehow. My dreams probably mean nothing—just some unusual nightmares to paranoid me. I know Uriah, and I know that he won't hurt me in any way. I know he won't kill me in any way.

I feel something in my stomach when I think of him, something that stings and is spreading all over. Maybe I just need to focus on the knives; I could use more practice since it's the last day of regular training.

"Wow," says Katniss, "He does seem like a nice guy. I can tell you met a lot of people at Dauntless."

"Yeah," I say, "I also met this guy. His name is Tobias but he goes by Four. At the Reaping, I could've sworn that I knew he was going to get picked. I just had gut feeling that he was, but obviously he wasn't. So I left him I guess."

"You didn't leave him," she says, "Is he a close friend?"

"Along those lines, yeah. More than that." I state.

Katniss runs over to the target, retrieves all of the arrows she shot, and runs back over to me.

"You'll see him one of these days," she says and I don't believe her, "And you know who you remind me of?"

"Who?" I shrug.

"My sister Prim. She's blond like you and she's small and thin like you too."

I am too small and thin; I mean even Katniss thinks so! I'm a little too insecure at times but it's true. My flaws are my flaws and saying something different about them will not change them literally.

"How old is she?" I test her.

"Thirteen."

Annoyance is what's killing me. I'm being annoyed by all of my insecurities. I'm too thin and small that I can't even reach the top of a refrigerator. I'm not even sure how my feet touch the ground when I sit on a chair, perhaps only my toes touch the ground. I'm being compared to a thirteen year old, a thirteen year old for God's sake!

I simply nod and change the subject by saying, "By the way, I never mentioned anything but congratulations on winning last year's Hunger Games."

She scowls a little as she places the bow and arrows on the ground.

"I didn't win," she lies, "Peeta and I were crowned the victors because I gave Peeta the idea of the selfish act that we were about to do."

_Selfish act._

"I created more hell than there already is in this world. All of the districts are uprising against the Capitol right now, and it's all because of me. Don't congratulate me or admire me. Just pretend I was never a victor in the first place."

For a moment, after she said that, I realize that Katniss is stronger than what I thought she was. She's not just "The Girl on Fire". She's way more than that; she's brave. She's kind of like me; Divergent. I bet if she lived with us, she'd be Divergent as well. Katniss Everdeen can never be controlled.

Crawling on the hard and cold ground; dirt, I slowly peek out the bush that's masking me. Empty. I keep moving forward and forward until I hear a noise behind me, a noise that sounds like someone just stepped on the ground. I jump up and point my gun at her as she points her arrow at me.

"You won't do it," she says and I notice the fancy braid that she wears with her dark hair.

"Try me," I say and that's when I pull the trigger as she releases the arrow to hit me right on the chest. I collapse but on the last sounds that I hear, I hear her collapse as well.

I sit quickly and gasp, feeling the sweat going down my neck and forehead. I can see the lights coming from outside the window brightening up my room a little. I tremble and my hands clench, my fingernails scrape through the inside of my hands. My head is vibrating and that's when I burst out of bed and suddenly feel my fist going through the wall.

* * *

**NOTES: I gotta say that I enjoyed writing this chapter. I really, really, really, really LOVED writing the scene when Katniss and Tris finally meet in person. They're both calm and kind of "timid" if that's the word, but as the story will go on, they'll develop more and more chemistry. I also enjoyed writing the last brief scene, though it was too quick. But hey, it's a dream. In case any of you are wondering, which I doubt, she did have a dream about Katniss. They both shot and killed each other, obviously. It was on my mind since the beginning and I never meant to actually to put the scene where they both meet but I thought it'd be perfect. So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be updated soon! Thank you all and please leave a review!:)**

**"Juliet's Shadow": Well, I put Tris and Katniss together!:D I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm glad you liked my chapter for the 24 author collaboration. Anyway, there wasn't any Finnick or Annie in this chapter but there will be in the next ones!:D I promise:)**

**"jakefan": Yeah... The last chapter was bad: bad writing style, rushed. I mean it was was pretty much the crappiest chapter I've written in the whole story. I didn't feel like writing when I was writing it so I kind of rushed it. I know it was a bad idea but I wanted to keep you guys updated. I'm sorry and I hope this chapter isn't bad. I hope you still like the story and can't wait to see more of your reviews. Thank you:D**

**"Guest": Thank you? I don't know if it was a compliment or if you mocked my words in the last responses. Wait, are you the Guest that I went off on? I don't know but if it was a compliment, thank you, but if you were mocking me, then... I guess... I don't even know. But uh, thanks for reviewing!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Katniss

Each step I take, I look down at the floor. Today was the easiest day of training; I mean, after all, it was the last day of training before our private sessions tomorrow. I finally got to meet the girl from one of the five factions in their section of Panem. She said she's from Dauntless, which means that she comes from a faction that proves bravery and courage.

We probably wouldn't have met sooner if she hadn't tried to get the pair of bow and arrows at the same time I did. I knew that I shouldn't have taken them but I did. She obviously wanted them, and I didn't even let her train with one single arrow. Although, she did train with knives and to my surprise, she was unbelievably good at them! Peeta was right; I kind of denied his statement but Tris, her name, proved to me that she's got something to prove to our competitors.

I scowl when I look at all the food placed on the table, the large rectangular glass table that's set up every day after training. I don't see why they can't provide food at least one day for the districts. All of this food probably goes to waste after training…

"Excuse me," a woman's voice speaks behind and I turn around to look at her black hair and ashen skin. I know who she is; the female tribute from District 3. Wiress. I met her at the firemaking station two days ago, along with the male tribute from the same district. Beetee.

Wiress is about my mother's age while Beetee is older, but not by much, probably eight to ten years older.

"Wiress," I smile, "Oh, sorry I'm blocking your way."

"No, it's okay," Wiress smiles, "I just wanted to tell you to try your best tomorrow during the private session. Remember, you got an eleven last year and I hope to see the same thing."

"Thanks," I say and start walking the other way. I rub my eye and look back at Wiress to see Beetee meet her. Something about the two makes me realize that they're suitable.

"Oh!" I almost shout when I bump into a muscular arm that belongs to the handsome tribute from District 4. Finnick Odair.

_Ah… Finnick Odair, only the ladies of the Capitol can describe the beauty of him._

"Whoa, girl on fire," he smiles, "You rushing somewhere?"

I met him after the opening ceremony: he offered me a sugar cube and asked me if I had any secrets. I thought maybe Finnick Odair was alright.

"I just want to go to my room," I say, because I do.

"I'm not stopping you, am I?" he gives me a seductive smile.

"Not at all," I respond.

He licks his upper lip before he finally asks me, "Now do you want a sugar cube?"

"Sure," I laugh a little and he walks me back over to the table. I didn't see any sugar cubes when I was there but that's because they were on the other side.

"Here," he tosses me a cube as he takes four.

I rub the cube with my thumb as a few crumbs fall on the floor. I take a small bite out of it as Finnick swallows a cube one by one. He sure does love sugar cubes.

"Have you seen Annie?" he asks.

"I haven't," I respond and look around the hallway but I see other tributes. "Where'd you last see her?"

"Since this morning," he says, "I haven't seen her ever since and I'm starting to get a little worried."

"Don't be," I place my hand on his broad shoulder, "She's okay. Turn around."

Annie is on the far end of the hallway. Finnick looks at her with a blank stare, ignoring everything else that's going on. Annie laughs as Finnick quickly approaches her.

I finish my sugar cube and start for the penthouse. Finnick really does like Annie, he probably even loves her. He always seems to be worried about her and I don't blame him. She can be a bit eccentric but that's because she's been through much. I know it's terrible to think this way, but I don't know how she'll survive in the arena again. I don't know how she'll survive with thirty-three other tributes with twenty-three of them being previous victors.

Her odds are very slim.

* * *

**NOTES: What's up, guys?! I haven't updated since Monday and I'm truly sorry! I just haven't been on FanFiction in a while and I haven't been in the writing mood lately. This chapter's really short and it's kind of sloppy... I guess, don't blame me because I know so if you review, don't tell me that it's sloppy because I already know it is. I wrote this yesterday and I didn't have that "writing mood" so it's kind of bad. So I apologize for that and this chapter's really boring as well. But we're getting super close to the arena, which I'm super excited to write about, and I hope you guys love it! You may have not liked this chapter but not every chapter in a story is exciting so this is one of those. Thank you for reading and please leave a review!:D**

**"Juliet's Shadow": Well, I finally finished this boring chapter! I hope you liked it! After all, Finnick and Annie are here but only for a brief scene. However, there'll be way more of them! Don't worry! Thanks:)**

**"jakefan": Haha it's okay:D you still reviewed!:) so you may not have liked this chapter but the next chapter will be way better! I noticed that writing as Katniss is actually more complicated than I thought it'd be. So yeah... But thank you and please review again!:D**

**"Guest": Thank you so much! Haha yeah... I love writing and I love being a fanboy/fanman! Haha I love books and writing some! But thank you and please review again!:D you're really sweet!**

**"Guest": Yeah! I really want to write about the arena! It's going to be so much fun and I hope I can make it great for all of you! You guys are the reason I keep writing:) and the jabberjays... we'll see;)**

**"ScarletNox140": Yay! I'm glad you like the story!:D And well Edith and Tori are not necessarily evil but they're trying to do their jobs so they seem evil but they're not!:D Thank you for reading and please review again!:)**

**"lollipop": Well here's the next!:D it's not great but it's something:) and I loved writing the dream! It was interesting! I'm glad it was a decent surprise and thank you for reading!:) please review again:)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Tris

"What the hell?" I hear Tori's voice yell from outside the doorway. "Tris! What the hell did you do?"

I bury my face into my hands and can't help it but release a tear or two—not by cowardice or sadness, but by anger. I'm angry. I'm frustrated.

"What in the world?" I hear Edith walking into the room. "Beatrice, what have you done?"

I don't answer but reveal my face to the two. Tori's wearing a fully black attire while Edith wears a grey sweater with black tight pants. She holds a glass cup filled with red liquid inside.

"I don't know," I simply say, "It just happened."

I walk over to the mirror next to Tori and look at my red eyes and my red knuckle. The hole isn't too big; after all, I'm not strong enough to make a huge hole. I know Tobias or Uriah can; if they did make a hole, it'd be the whole wall.

"It did not just happen!" Edith yells, "You know how much trouble we'll be in? It doesn't affect you only, it affects all of us!"

"She's right," Tori says.

I take a closer look at the hole, which I assume has a diameter of an inch or half, and wonder what they'll do to me…

Cut off my tongue or worse.

"I'm sorry," I apologize, "I let my anger get out of control and—"

"Holy crap!" Uriah walks into the room with an amazed face. "Tris! What the…?"

He can't even speak; I bet he's impressed with my hitting skills. Tobias and he have taught me a lot.

"Uriah," Tori says, "Calm down."

"But holy cow! How did she? How can she?" he's looking at me with his dark eyes widened.

"This isn't a competition of who can and can't do stuff," Edith explains, "This is serious. We're going to get into deep trouble because of this and it's your fault, Beatrice."

Her thin finger points at me as she takes sip from her drink. Both Tori and Edith are right because I screwed up bad. We're all going to get in trouble because of me.

Katniss Everdeen.

What did that dream mean? I killed her and she killed me at the exact same time. We were in an unfamiliar place though: there were a lot of trees and it was mostly green. A lot of animal sounds were the things I heard. It was as if we were in some sort of jungle.

"Beatrice Prior." a voice says as Uriah and I sit in a room with the lights dimmed. It's time for my private session. We're the last ones to do this because it goes by order. The districts go first, and then the factions. The districts go by numerical order while the factions go by alphabetical order—since we're Dauntless, we're last.

I bet the people who are going to visualize us are not even going to bother taking a closer look at Uriah and me, because they're probably tired of watching the thirty-two other tributes.

I walk into the big room where we were training the past three days and notice that it's bigger than I thought. It looks bigger because it's only me standing in the middle. I see the visualizers and the new Head Gamemaker of the Hunger Games this year. His name is Plutarch Heavensbee.

He's the only one who's actually staring at me, while the others are having random conversations. I eye them closely and notice that Plutarch leans in to take a closer view of me. I bet he's thinking that I'm too small and fragile to step into an arena almost full of past victors.

I look around and spot a set of knives, the same ones I've been using and they also look like exact replicas of the ones from Dauntless. I think of Tobias when I look at them and I remember when I took Al's place to step by the target. He was giving me a message but now, I want to give him one.

I look at Plutarch again, who's still gazing at me closely, and take four knives. They're kind of thin and all fit in my small hand. I swallow my spit hard and tighten all four of the knives in my small right hand. I point the four of them at the target, which is probably fifteen or twenty feet away from me, and jump when a deep voice yells: "What the hell? You're not going to be able to do that! What are you? A master of knives?"

I tighten the knives harder that I feel all four of them becoming one. I breathe in hard and quickly release the four, letting them fly immediately to the board. I hear a thud and I fold my arms across my chest. Plutarch's jaw is on the floor, along with the others. None of them are speaking and that's when I say, "Thank you." and leave the room.

"Are you serious?" Uriah's smile is white against his bronze skin. Amazement is all over him: his face, his voice, his eyes; everything.

"Yeah," I smile.

"Congratulations, Tris," Tori says, "All of that training paid off."

"Thanks Tori," I say.

I look down at the ground and suddenly have a nervous feeling. What if that speechless reaction wasn't a good thing? What if I get an extremely low score?

"I just heard that Beatrice hit a target with four knives altogether!" Edith walks into the room with a smile on her face.

"It's true," Tori smiles as well.

"I honestly didn't know you had that in you," says Edith as she takes a seat next to me. "I knew you had punching in you but not knives!"

I suddenly remember the wall.

"Wait," I snap, "What happened with the wall?"

"Oh goodness," Edith responds, "Tori?"

Tori and Uriah smile and give each other a high-five.

"We fixed it," says Tori, "We used tape that camouflaged with the wall."

I laugh a little and say, "You guys are funny."

After about twenty minutes, Caesar Flickerman, the host for the Hunger Games, appears on the wall. He wears a midnight blue suit with small light bulbs decorating it. His hair is the shade of purple and I notice that so are his eyelids. The way the announcing of the scores is being presented in is the screen is being projected onto a wall in each room. The Capitol has far more advanced technology than we do.

"From District 1…" Caesar says and goes on and on until I hear him say Peeta and Katniss's names.

"From District 12," he slowly says, "Peeta Mellark, with a score of… twelve."

_Twelve._

I wonder what he did, what he did to earn such a high score. The rest of the tributes so far have gotten pretty averaged scores and I don't see how I can compete with them. I know Uriah can but I don't see how I can.

"And also from District 12," he continues, "Katniss Everdeen…"

There's a moment of silence and I feel the urge to punch the wall again, and I don't know why. I just don't know why.

"… with a score of… twelve."

I look up at the screen to see if it's real and it is! Katniss and Peeta both got a twelve, a twelve! I believe it though, due to the fact that I've seen them train. Katniss probably used her bow and arrow and Peeta used his strength abilities.

When it's time for the factions, I pay close attention to see how good they did. I want to see Axton and Brayde's scores mainly, they're the ones I have my eye close on the most.

"From Abnegation," Caesar goes on, "Jordan Holmes, with a score of nine."

I believe Jordan can do that, and he obviously just did. He looks like he has the potential to be the victor of the Hunger Games.

"Sandra Mae, with a score of six."

Six isn't bad, it isn't bad for Sandra. But I feel a bit sorry for her; she's just too small.

"From Amity," Caesar continues, "Felix Long, with a score of eight."

Eight! Felix is just twelve and he got a score of eight. How can he?

"Jade Hopkins, with a score of nine."

I begin to get a little worried. The scores are high for these tributes, especially for Felix. I thought Felix was probably going to get an extremely low score—he doesn't seem like the type of kid to get an eight.

"From Candor," Caesar resumes and that's when I pay extra close attention. "Brayde Knight, with a score of ten."

I lower my head and let the number ten sink in. There is absolutely no way I can compete with the rest of these tributes, especially Brayde. Brayde is Tobias's size and I know that I cannot take on Tobias.

"Tanya Lancaster, with a score of nine."

I take a close look at Tanya's shot and look into her vicious eyes. She's like a slithering viper that creeps up on you at night.

"From Erudite," Caesar continues and sounds a little exhausted, "Axton Calvert, with a score of eleven."

I want to collapse on the cold hard ground and stay there for eternity. I am officially an outcast. I know that I have to try but it'll be too complicated, too challenging. I am brave. But I'm not sure how brave I am now.

"Daryn Anderson, with a score of eight."

I thought maybe Daryn would get a higher score but there's an obvious eight right next to her shot. I bite my lip by the time Caesar announces our scores. He calls out Uriah's first though and I'm not surprised when he reveals that Uriah has gotten a score of eleven.

Uriah is in the same line as the Axton and Brayde, even as Katniss and Peeta. Nobody from the districts, with the exception of Katniss and Peeta, got a score of twelve. One of them got an eleven though, which belonged to Finnick. Annie got an eight. I wonder what all of them did to earn such high scores.

I take in a deep breath when Caesar says, "Beatrice Prior…"

I dig my fingernails in my forehead and feel blood going down my face. I want to cover my ears and close my eyes; become blind and deaf. But I almost jump and fall off the couch when Caesar finally says the last score.

_Twelve._

* * *

**NOTES: I have extremely and amazingly good news for all of you! So I stayed up 'til like 1AM last night, working on this because I finally had the mood to write. My chapters have been sloppy and crappy lately and I apologize for that but I just want to keep you guys updated. But the good news is, I have the next two chapters already finished! So you'll see them here later. I don't want to post all three of them at the same time but you'll see them really quick! So Tris got a score of 12 because she impressed Plutarch when she hit the target with four knives. Four. Haha, you guys get it? Four? Four knives? Haha I'm lame but oh well. I decided to include what the tributes from the factions got so you can see how good they are and I feel sorry for Sandra. She's just too fragile and timid; she is a Stiff. But apart from all of this, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review!:) Thanks to all of you:)**

**"Juliet's Shadow": You're dressed up as Annie? Well were? Haha, what a coincidence! But here's Chapter 19!:D it's kind of picking up, if I not say... But I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks! And please, please, please, please update Graceland soon!:D**

**"jakefan": Thank you:D And yes, the last chapter was too short but this chapter's much longer and the next two are even longer. So yeah, I hope you liked this chapter and can't wait to see what you think for the next two!:D **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Katniss

As we all gather for dinner, I notice that Peeta's hands are partially covered with a variety of colors. But maybe he's just practicing his camouflaging skills. When the soup is finally served, Haymitch asks the same thing everyone at the table is wondering.

"So, how did the private sessions go?"

I lower my head and exchange glances with Peeta. I'm not anxious to put into words what I did. Effie, Cinna, Portia, and Haymitch stare at Peeta and me, waiting for a simple answer. But answering the question is not simple.

"You first," I tell Peeta. "It must have been special, I mean, I had to wait like forty minutes to go in."

Peeta seems like he doesn't know how to answer the question. What does he have to be worried about? I still have no idea what he did last year to earn a score of eight. He clears his throat before he begins saying, "Well, I-I,"

It seems like a chunk of food is stuck inside his throat.

"I did a camouflage thing, like Katniss suggested."

"You did?" questions Portia.

"Yeah, with the dyes."

I don't believe him. He did something more than that, and it's obvious that he's lying. He's hesitating too much.

"You painted a picture, didn't you?" I respond.

"Y-Yeah," he finally agrees.

Effie takes a drink from her glass cup and says, "Oh lovely, I bet my hair it was a picture of Katniss, wasn't it?"

"Why would he paint me, Effie?" I'm suddenly annoyed.

"Well," she responds, "To show that he'll protect you."

"No," says Peeta, "I didn't paint a picture of Katniss. I actually painted a picture of Rue, the way she looked when you covered her up with the flowers."

There's a silence at the table.

"What were you trying to accomplish?" asks Haymitch.

"I don't know," Peeta responds, "I wanted to hold them accountable, for killing that little girl."

"That's terrible," Effie sounds like she's tearing up. "Peeta, you're only bringing more trouble down to yourself and Katniss."

"I agree," Haymitch takes a sip from his whiskey.

I understand why they feel that way. But I think what he did was just amazing and I just wish that I had been there to see for myself.

"I guess this isn't the right time to mention that I hung a dummy with Seneca Crane's name on it," I say.

"You hung… Seneca Crane?" Cinna sounds shocked.

"I was trying to show off my new knot-tying skills," I respond.

"Katniss," Effie says in a silent tone, "How do you even know about that?"

"It was obvious. It isn't like if President Snow was trying to keep it from me. He seemed like he wanted me to know."

Effie leaves the table with a napkin placed on her nose and that's when the table is silent again. We finish up the meal and I go to my room to be joined by Cinna. He puts his arms around me and says, "Let's go see the training scores."

We all get together around the screening and Caesar goes down the districts by numerical order. As obvious, the high scores come by Gloss, Cashmere, Brutus, Enobaria, and Finnick. The rest are medium to low.

I assume Peeta and I will be low but I look up at the screen when Caesar says that Peeta and I have received a twelve. Nobody is surprised or cheers though.

"Why'd they do that?" I ask.

"So they can show the other tributes that you two are targets," Haymitch responds before Caesar goes on and announces the scores from the factions. The high scores come from names: Axton, Brayde, Daryn, Jade, Tanya, Jordan, and Uriah. The rest of them are medium to low as well but as soon as he says Tris's score, all of us are speechless, not the kind of speechless we had when he said me and Peeta's score but an amazed, shocked, and puzzled speechless.

"Are they trying to make her look like a target too?" I look at Haymitch.

"Maybe, I don't know. Did she paint a picture of that little girl or hung Seneca Crane? Get to bed; I can't stand seeing either of you right now."

Peeta walks me to my room in silence but he doesn't leave when we reach it. Instead, he lies next to me and I place my head on his hard chest. He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me gently.

"You know what you did was amazing, right?" I point out the painting of Rue to him.

"Thanks," he says, "And why did you hang the dummy with Seneca Crane's name on it?"

"I guess because I don't want to be a piece in their games."

I remember the rooftop at night when both of us couldn't sleep last year. Peeta told me the exact same thing and even though I didn't understand a word he was saying, I finally understand him now. I understand why he painted Rue and I completely understand and am glad by what I did.

"Hey," I get up, "How do you think Tris got a twelve?"

Peeta shrugs.

"You've seen her with knives. She's good." he says.

"But the other victors didn't get a twelve. And she's not a victor…"

He doesn't answer and I somehow don't want him to leave, so I change the subject.

"So what should we do on our last days here?" I ask.

"Spend every minute I can with you," I know that what he's saying isn't for the people. It's for me; he means it.

I feel his warmth against me as he squeezes me harder and I wrap one of my arms around him. I remember the night when we were on our way here. We haven't been on a bed together ever since. I like remembering that night but at the same time, I don't because that following day, I attacked Peeta. I hate remembering everything where I have done something bad to Peeta. I have to do whatever I can to make him satisfied, to protect him and keep him alive. I close my eyes and enter darkness.

When I open my eyes, daylight is hitting the room by the big window. I haven't had a goodnight's sleep in decades and having Peeta with me, makes me realize that he helps me get through rough nights.

Tomorrow's the day of the televised interview and Haymitch and Effie are supposed to be training us for it today. An Avox walks in with a note and I read it to realize that Haymitch and Effie have agreed not to coach us, since they know that Peeta and I can handle ourselves sufficiently in public.

"Peeta," I wake him up and he yawns. "The coaching sessions have been cancelled."

"Really?" he says and takes the note from me. "Do you know what this means? We have the whole day to ourselves."

I agree and we quickly begin spending the whole day together, doing whatever we can while we can. We order food and eat, Peeta sketches me, and we play games that we have made up. The day goes by too quick when I realize that it is late afternoon and I'm lying on Peeta's lap.

"I wish I could freeze this moment," he says.

"Okay." I simply respond because I actually am enjoying this moment.

"So that's a yes?" he asks.

"Yeah."

We do not get disturbed until the next day, the day for the interview. My prep team storms into my room and suddenly Octavia leaves the room in tears. I guess the view of me and Peeta sleeping together is too much for her. Peeta returns to his room for his prep and I'm left alone with Venia and Flavius. Flavius is almost in tears, puts down the scissors, and leaves, leaving Venia and I alone.

When Venia is done covering my face with makeup, she tells me her last words to me, and leaves the room for Cinna to come in.

"What am I wearing?" I ask Cinna.

"President Snow picked out what you're wearing. Look." he opens up the bag he walked in with and I see a white dress. He helps me into it and it feels like a ton of bricks. I ask him if it was always as heavy as it is, but he replies with an answer far from the question.

"Make sure you don't raise your sleeves, not until you twirl anyway?" he says.

"I'll be twirling?" I question.

"In case Caesar Flickerman asks you but if he doesn't, then suggest it."

"Okay."

He adds a final touch of his makeup before he leads me to the elevator and we meet Effie, Portia, Haymitch, and Peeta. Peeta's wearing a tuxedo with white gloves, the sort of thing a man wears when he gets married.

The other tributes are already gathered offstage and talk in whispers but everything pauses when Peeta and I walk in. It's my dress. I look at everyone and notice Tris, who wears a black dress but that's not as thick and fluffy as mine.

"Cinna made you wear that thing?" Finnick asks.

"No, President Snow made me," I say and exchange glances with the Careers, mainly Gloss and Cashmere. I also notice Brutus and Enobaria, from District 2. I saw them train on the first day, along with Johanna Mason who stands in front of me and fixes my necklace. I don't notice what she tells me as I keep staring at Tris and Uriah.

_I still can't believe she got a twelve._

We all sit onstage and Cashmere begins with a speech about how much she can't stop crying that the Capitol will lose people like us. Gloss explains the kindness shown to his siblings. Finnick reads a poem to his true love in the Capitol and about a hundred people faint, but I know who he's reading his poem to. Chaos breaks out when it's my turn. My dress must catch on their eyes more. My three minutes are almost up before I tell Caesar how much I'll be disappointed that he won't be at my wedding—I realize that that's the perfect time to begin twirling. I quickly get up and begin spinning, feeling the flames suddenly going up and up. The whole crowd gasps and I smell smoke, consuming my nose and smell. I keep spinning because maybe this is what Cinna set up for me and when the fire stops, I stop. My dress is still the same but it's the color of coal and there are tiny feathers on it. I raise my sleeves and notice that perhaps I'm showing off my wings.

I'm a mockingjay.

* * *

**NOTES: Well here's Chapter 20! Wow, this story is going by fast! We're so close to the arena! Anyway, for this chapter, I had to go back and re-read several parts from Catching Fire so I can add em on here, so this chapter's pretty similar to the scenes in Catching Fire. But other than that, I enjoyed writing this chapter and I have the next one completed! But I think I'm going to update that one tomorrow... I'll work on Chapter 22 right after I update this one though, to keep you guys updated:D Well thank you all and please review:)**

**"krikanalo": I just noticed that you changed your username but thank you! And yeah, I thought it was pretty interesting that most of them got high scores, especially Felix but I have small plans for him. I hope you liked this chapter as well and can't wait to see your feedback for the next one!:D**

**"Juliet's Shadow": Thanks!:) My inspiration is my mind, unleashing everything creatively. Pretty cheesy but oh well. Um, Finnick is here;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be up tomorrow!:D**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Tris

Tori and Edith were coaching us for the televised interview. They said that we had to be coached in order to gain a lot of attention, but I don't care about attention. After all, Katniss Everdeen received all of the attention just now when her wedding dress suddenly became a bird. I've never seen the bird before but apparently, a lot of people here have, because everyone gasped when she twirled and twirled until her wedding dress was completely the color of coal with small feathers surrounding it.

Ian dressed me in a simple black dress that's almost the same size as Katniss's but slightly thinner. I haven't worn this kind of dress since the Tribute Parade, but at the Tribute Parade, my dress was way thinner. My hair isn't up in a tail but in a fancy braid style that my mother never did. I don't see how he was able to do a braid, despite my short hair—I guess it's kind of growing.

It's Peeta's turn to be interviewed. I sit next to Uriah; we're the last ones lined up onstage. Peeta and Katniss don't even exchange glances when they pass other. Katniss is next to me, on my left while Uriah is on my right.

"You did great," I whisper to her.

"Thanks," she smiles and I smell a little bit of smoke coming from her dress.

Peeta and Caesar quickly greet each other and begin with Caesar asking what everyone is probably thinking, including me.

"So, Peeta, what was it like when, after all you've been through, you found out about the Quell?" asks Caesar.

If he asks me that, I don't even know what I'd even say. Even though Tori and Edith tried their best to coach Uriah and me, I didn't learn anything. I think I'm just going to have to wing it, like I mostly do with everything.

"I was in shock. I mean, one minute I'm seeing Katniss looking so beautiful in all these wedding gowns, and the next…" Peeta trails off.

"You realized there was never going to be a wedding?" asks Caesar gently.

Peeta doesn't say anything for a moment—it's as if he's trying to decide something, what to say or how to react. He looks at the audience and then back at Caesar.

"Caesar, do you think all of our friends can keep a secret?"

I don't know where he's going with that. But then again, I don't know Peeta that well; just that he didn't have a peaceful living in District 12. But whatever he's about to say, it can't be a secret. The whole world is watching.

"I feel quite certain for it," says Caesar.

"We're already married," says Peeta and I can see the looks on the audience's faces when he says that. Katniss buries her face into her hands and I assume that she has no idea where Peeta is going with this. _He's making this up._

"But… how can that be?" Caesar is puzzled.

"Oh, it's not an official marriage. We didn't go to the Justice Building or anything. But we have this marriage ritual in District Twelve. I don't know what it's like in the other districts. But there's this thing we do," says Peeta.

"Were your families there?" asks Caesar.

"No, we didn't tell anyone. Not even Haymitch. And Katniss's mother would never have approved. But you see, we knew if we were married in the Capitol, there wouldn't be a toasting. And neither of us really wanted to wait any longer. So one day, we just did it," Peeta says. "And to us, we're more married than any piece of paper or big party could make us."

"So this was before the Quell?" Caesar still sounds puzzled.

I am too because I don't understand any of this. Peeta says he's already married to Katniss but he's implying that he's not… The ritual they do is quite similar to ours but where Peeta is going with this, I have no clue. He told me that he and Katniss were marrying when I talked to him during training. So I'm discombobulated by everything he's saying.

"Of course before the Quell. I'm sure we'd never have done it after we knew," says Peeta, starting to get upset. "But who could've seen it coming? No one. We went through the Games, we were victors, everyone seemed so thrilled to see us together, and then out of nowhere—I mean, how could we anticipate a thing like that?"

"You couldn't, Peeta." Caesar puts an arm around his shoulders. "As you say, no one could've. But I have to confess, I'm glad you two had at least a few months of happiness together."

The whole audience emerges into applause, a loud one, almost as loud as Katniss's. I look at Katniss and notice a tear falling from her eye, landing on her feathered-dress.

"I'm not glad," says Peeta. "I wish we had waited until the whole thing was done officially."

That is when I know exactly what he's talking about.

"Surely even a brief time is better than no time?" Caesar responds.

"Maybe I'd think that, too, Caesar," says Peeta bitterly, "if it weren't for the baby."

_I'm right._

When Uriah and I were watching recaps from the previous Games, we took a look at last year's. He hit a bombshell when he revealed to the world that he was crushing on Katniss. And now, right now, he's done it again. The whole audience breaks down into a bunch of shouting and talking, including the tributes nearby us. When Peeta's interview is over, he doesn't say anything else but walks back over to his seat, next to Katniss. The whole audience is in chaos, nobody will seem to quiet down until Sandra steps in and everybody sits back down. I exchange glances with Peeta and he nods at I don't even know what.

Sandra doesn't talk much and even offers if her interview can be cut short for the next tribute. Jordan. Caesar accepts her offer and Jordan steps in and talks to Caesar about his family back at Abnegation headquarters. The whole audience doesn't seem impressed by Jordan but I am. He doesn't have parents, like me.

Felix is next and when his interview is over, the audience refuses to clap. An averaged portion of the audience give Jade a round of applause when she tells Caesar that we need to watch out for her. I'm not afraid of her but if she's warning us, then I guess I have to follow.

Mostly everyone claps for Brayde and Tanya when it's their turn and by the time Axton and Daryn have gone, the audience is exhausted by all of the clapping they've done. Some of them are still talking about Katniss and Peeta, I know it.

I step on the stage when Caesar calls out my name. I slowly reach him and take a seat to look at the audience.

"Well," he gives me a smile. "Tell us, how does it feel to be here?"

I look at him, then at audience, and then back at him.

"I'd rather jump off a building," I say and the whole crowd bursts into laughter, including Caesar.

"I'm not joking," I say and they all stop. "I've jumped on and off several buildings before. I'd rather be doing that now than being here. But while I've been here, I've met a lot of friendly people," I look at Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, and Annie. A few of the other tributes eye me with an odd look.

"Well you made an incredible entrance at the Tribute Parade! Tell me, were the flames real?" he leans closer.

"No," I say and the whole audience shatters into the whispers. Caesar gives me a bizarre look. "I don't even know what they were. They weren't real though, if they were, my hair would be gone by now."

Caesar laughs but I don't see why. I'm not trying to be funny or entertaining for these people.

"This is being televised everywhere, right?" I ask in a strange tone, knowing what the answer is.

"Why yes!" Caesar responds.

I look straight at the audience and notice Tori, Caleb, Marcus, Johanna, Jack, and Edith sitting in a line. I give them a look and they eye me back with a "What are you doing?" look. I clear my throat and finally say it.

"I'm Divergent. I can't be controlled by any of you. I will not be controlled by any of you. If you want to kill me, do it. I'm not afraid."

I get up and get back to my seat. Nobody clapped and I know what they're wondering. They're probably wondering how the hell I got a score of twelve. Well I'm wondering as well.

Uriah's interview flashes by and I can tell Caesar and the audience adored him. Who can dislike Uriah? He walks back over to his chair and the whole audience is talking. I look at the other tributes and suddenly, we're standing, forming unity and showing it off to the world. The world may not have watched but the cameras shut off a few seconds after we did our moment.

_They saw._

We're escorted to our elevators where we meet Tori. Edith's not with her and I suppose maybe she's with the other factions.

"Where's Edith?" I ask out of curiosity.

"She was sent home. They were all sent home," says Tori.

"Wait, the Games are off?" Uriah responds.

"No, and don't count on that because it's not going to happen. It's going wild out there and the two of you need to get some rest," she says.

"But what about—" she interrupts me.

"Just get to bed, Tris! Tomorrow is the day of the Games and you need to rest! You may be Divergent but I'm controlling you right now. Go and get some sleep, now."

I don't answer but head for the penthouse and into my room. I strip the dress and rip it apart, all out of anger. I'm screaming, stomping the floor hard, pulling my hair so the fancy braid can come off. I let my body fall hard on the bed and shriek even more. I feel like jumping off this tall building but it's not worth it. If I do that, it means they own me. It means they can control me and make me do things I shouldn't. I position my body on the bed and pull the sheet closer to my body but that's when Uriah steps into my room.

"What do you want?" I ask rudely, because I don't want anyone talking to me.

"Look I'm not here to fight or argue. I just want to make you feel better," he says.

"Uriah, I don't need your pity. Please go away."

He doesn't go away but stands there. I bury my face into the soft pillows and can't help it but throw one at him. I feel like it's not enough, so I throw the rest at him. Out of anger, I get up and quickly start swinging at him, feeling his hard chest and arms sting my knuckles but I don't care. He doesn't seem to be hurt by it as he grabs my wrists and slows me down, telling me to stop.

"Calm down," he says in a soothing voice and he suddenly pulls me and squeezes me, making me feel his hard chest against the side of my head.

"Calm down, Tris, calm down," he runs his finger down my hair and I feel his warm breath against my ear—it somehow soothes me even more.

"I'm sorry," I look up at him and try to blink the tears away. "I'm just frustrated and tired."

"I know," he says, "I am too. Just get some rest and sleep as comfortable as you can."

I feel more tears coming my way because probably tomorrow, I'll be gone. I manage to blink all of them away and run my fingers up to Uriah's upper back. He looks at me closely with his dark eyes as he moves his hand to my cheek, rubbing the tear that's running down my face away with his thumb. I look down only to feel his hand touch my chin and lift my head back up again.

_Oh no._

He slowly leans in and I close my eyes, ready to feel the feeling of his soft lips pressed against mine when I hear Tori say, "Uriah, Tris, sleep now!"

Both of us jump and Uriah rubs my shoulder before he leaves. Tori shakes her head and closes the door. I am alone again. But before I can do anything else, I fall back on the bed and close my eyes until daylight strikes my room.

Ian walks into my room after I'm already ready to go. I'm on the rooftop, just staring at the sky and the Capitol for the time I have left. Ian puts his hands on my shoulders when he says, "You ready?"

I nod and he leads me to a thing called a hovercraft. A lady tells me to give her my arm and I do to be injected with a tracker in my left forearm. I am now being located and can't escape. The hovercraft shuts and we begin to fly.

When we reach the Launch Room in the arena, Ian presses his hands on my shoulder delicately and bows down his head.

"It was a pleasure being your stylist," he says, "Be brave."

_Brave._

I look down at my outfit; this year, we wear a fitted blue jumpsuit, made of very sheer material that zippers up the front. A six-inch-wide padded belt covered in shiny purple plastic. A pair of nylon shoes with rubber soles.

It reminds me of the stuff we'd wear at Dauntless somehow.

We stand in silence until a voice tells me to prepare for the launch. Shakily, I walk over to the circular metal plate and then a glass cylinder is lowering around me, dividing the two of us and I can see his expression but can't hear him. I can, however, see the words that he mouths before the cylinder begins to rise and for a couple of seconds, there's darkness until I feel the cylinder push me out into the open air and bright and shiny open. I look down and my metal plate is surrounded by blue waves that tour around my boots. I remember the words that Ian mouthed before the cylinder began rising me up…

_Be brave._

* * *

**NOTES: Here's Chapter 21! I absolutely, positively, extremely enjoyed writing this intense chapter! Like, you don't understand, it's probably the best chapter that I've written yet (in my opinion). So, finally they're in the arena! And by the way, for the arena, I'm not going to go exactly by the deaths in the book. I'm going to make it different, in other words, my way. Don't get me wrong, the arena will still be a clock but I'm saying that the storyline in the arena will be different than the one in Catching Fire. So yeah... it won't be exactly as it is in the book. Don't freak out if a tribute dies differently here than it did in the book. So the Uriah and Tris scene was kind of interesting to me as they were kind of getting out of control and were about to kiss. Good thing Tori showed up! Well I hope you guys LOVED this chapter, because I did, and please review!:)**

**_Juliet's Shadow_****: I hope this chapter made you scream and jump!:D I'm glad you loved it! And I hope you enjoyed this one as well:D Thank you so much!:)**

_**ScarletNox140**_**: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! And well, about the alphabetical order part, I really wanted Tris and Uriah's scores to go last; you know, to add more tension and depth. You get it? But, thank you and please review again!:)**

_**Guest**_**: I'm overjoyed that you're liking this story!:D and I know that Tris getting a really high score was predictable but she is a "badass" character and can use knifes and guns:D but I'll try not to make it predictable anymore. Thank you for reviewing and reading! I'm glad you pointed that out!:D**

_**krikanalo**_**: Thank you! Well, here's the next one and I hope you enjoyed it!:D**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Katniss

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!" says the voice of Claudius Templesmith, the Hunger Games announcer.

I can't think and can't even remember how to lift a finger. Just moments ago, Cinna was beaten by a guard of peacekeepers and was dragged out of the room, bloody and unconscious. I can't think straight. It's the same way when Darius was assaulted; will they make Cinna an Avox? What will he be now?

I have no idea where I'm at as I look at the bright pink sky with the sun beating down on me and the blue water surrounding me. It's only a matter of time before the gong sound goes off and all of the tributes are free to move from their metal plates. But where do I move? Which direction do I go to? I see the Cornucopia, the shining gold metal horn, just about forty yards away. It looks like it is sitting on a circular island but as I examine closer, I see strips of land that surround us in a circle.

I look around and see the thirty-three other tributes, including Tris. She looks frightened, nervous; like she has no idea what to do next. I assume that she feels the same way as I do; we're lost and don't know where the hell to go next—until the gong sound goes off, and that's when I jump and let the cold water wash me in, covering my whole body but head. I taste the saltwater with my finger and notice that the water is clean, cleaner than the beach at District 4 when we toured there. I try to look for Peeta but don't see him anywhere—maybe he's on the other side of the Cornucopia and I know that my prediction is true because I see Woof, from District 8, nearby with Cecelia, also from District 8, moving quickly before a tribute from the factions swings a huge sword across both of their necks. The water has turned crimson and I go below to seek land but only feel someone grabbing my leg. Annie.

"Where's Finnick?" she catches her breath.

I look around and don't see him but Tris, trying to find a way to swim her life away but won't even move as she's hiding by her metal plate. Annie doesn't say anything else before she dashes over there and helps her get to the land as quickly as possible. As I look for Finnick, through all of the blood and killing, I get closer and closer to the Cornucopia to see a golden bow. And just in an arm's reach, I yank it free but that's when I feel someone behind me. I don't hesitate but pull an arrow from the sheath that's still wedged in the pile and arm my bow as I turn and release the arrow. Finnick, handsome and gorgeous, stands a few yards away, holding a trident ready for attack.

As I approach him, I look back and see that Gloss has snapped the District 10 male's neck. I move quicker and quicker so the bodies that are flowing away don't reach me and finally make it to Finnick.

"You can swim," he says, "Did you learn how in District Twelve?"

"We have a big bathtub," I say.

"You like the arena?" he asks.

"Not really," I respond and finally exchange glances with Peeta, who's near his metal plate still. Finnick says nothing and rushes over, making a huge splash when he jumps into the water, and I don't see him again until he reveals himself in front of Peeta. Peeta tries pushing him away but Finnick encloses him and drags him as quick as he can to me; it's only a matter of seconds before I see about eight or ten bodies on the ground, flowing into the water.

"Come on," Finnick says and we make our way into the land. But as we take a step closer, it's not sand. It's more like the woods… Not even. _Jungle._ I push the green leaves away and see an open small spot to rest for a while. I begin to think of the arena and start to wonder why they made it this way. They knew that this is no place for a girl like me; it's more like a place for Finnick and Annie.

"You okay?" I ask Peeta as I rub his soaked hair.

"Yeah," he says with an exhausted tone.

I look at Finnick, who's standing, and watch him hold his trident with his hands that lead to his muscular arms. This place was built for him.

"Where's Annie?" he asks through all of the screaming that's going on around us. "I saw her with you."

"She was but then she went to go help the tribute from one of the factions. Do you know her? Her name is Tris," I respond.

"I know her," he says, "And she helped her get out of the water?"

"That's what I saw," I tell him.

It looked like Tris was terrified of the water when I saw her. She was looking all over the place and looked at the other tributes slaying and slaughtering each other, like I witnessed and did myself to one tribute. I suddenly remember the Hunger Games that Annie was in a few years back. The reason she won was because of her swimming skills—maybe she'll do the same during this year's. I bite my lip as I hear the cannon go off repeatedly. _One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. _

Eight tributes dead as I count.

"Eight," I say and turn to look at Peeta and Finnick.

Finnick looks down at the ground, then at the sky, and then back at me.

"What if one of those eight was Annie?" he points out, and I doubt that's right. "What if she's already dead?"

"Don't talk like that," I tell him. "She's still here."

I look at him closely into his sea-green eyes and can't help it but feel a little bit of pity. He loves Annie and would probably even die for her. I know he'd die for her.

"Do we have any weapons?" asks Peeta.

"I have my bow," I say.

"I have my trident," Finnick hold his trident up.

I notice that Peeta doesn't have any weapons on him. He couldn't even get to the Cornucopia—the Careers were taking and dominating everyone who even stepped foot near the Cornucopia. I got pretty lucky when I got my bow, because they were killing off the other poor helpless tributes. I didn't even get to see who I killed with my arrow; I was in too much of a rush to even see anything. Everything flew by and happened in a matter of seconds. I could have sworn that in the first ten seconds, someone was already dead. Someone probably drowned immediately after they stepped foot in the water.

I suddenly remember that Annie wasn't carrying any weapons with her when she swam towards Tris and helped her get to the land. Tris, obviously, didn't have any either. Who knows? what if they are already dead? I don't know how anyone can survive without one single weapon for a day and most importantly, for the rest of these Games.

"We need more weapons," Finnick says, "I have a plan."

He tells us that in a short while, we'll sneak and try to get to the Cornucopia as quietly as possible and get everything that we can, maybe even kill a Career. I think I can go through this but I don't see how Peeta can. I guess it's just Finnick and I going forward through this.

"Peeta," I grab his hand a few moments later, "Finnick and I will go. We'll need you to keep a lookout, okay?"

He nods and I lean in to give him a kiss. The day when Haymitch and Effie cancelled the coaching lessons, I don't even know how many times Peeta and I kissed. We had fun that day, more fun than I have ever had. I remember the words he told me when the day was almost over.

_I wish I could freeze this moment._ Now, I do agree with him. I wish we could go back to that day, and freeze it, freeze that beautiful moment that I wish had never stopped.

Finnick and I walk down every path that can lead us to the waters but all we can see is green. We continue walking, pushing all of the giant leaves out of the way until we see it. The Cornucopia.

Gloss and Brutus stand there, guarding everything as Cashmere and Enobaria stand near the water. I look at Finnick and the look that he gives me, tells me that it's time to go. Quietly, we get into the cold water and swim under, holding our breaths for almost five minutes until we finally reach it. When I place my hand on the small solid portion, when Finnick and I are right in the middle of the whole arena, someone clutches my hand and pulls me hard as I drop on the solid ground hard. Cashmere.

"We got her!" she calls out Enobaria, Brutus, and Gloss.

The three of them run over to me but that's when Finnick jumps out and knocks Brutus right into the water. I hop up, pull an arrow out of my sheath, and position it to let it fly straight towards Cashmere, only for her dodge it and dive into the water, splashing water into my eyes. Two strong arms enclose around me and I can't move. When I open my eyes, I see Finnick running towards me and whoever is holding me, until the tribute jumps into the water, taking me with him.

My body splashes hard and I lose the pair of arms. I assume it was Gloss, because Brutus had dived into the water earlier while Enobaria's arms aren't buff and strong as the two arms were. I get onto the small land where the Cornucopia is and notice that it's just Finnick and me standing.

"You okay?" he grabs my shoulders.

"Yeah," I nod and look around to find dozens of swords, knives, and other supplies. I get all of the knives I can find and a sword as Finnick gathers many other weapons he can find onto his hands. I look back at the Cornucopia before the both of us jump back into the water and dash our way to the land. I know exactly where we were and which path we took. Finnick appears to know as well as he leads the path for the both of us. I cut many leaves out of the way with the sword and finally make it to the spot where Peeta, Finnick, and I were. But the both of us notice that we have a problem.

_No one's here._

I bite my lip and circle the small area, staring into the jungle to see if Peeta's there, but don't find one single trace or clue of him. Finnick and I place all of the weapons on the ground and take in a deep breath to try to calm ourselves down until the cannon goes off again.

* * *

**NOTES: Well here's Chapter 22! Finally got it done. I'm sorry I took a while to update; I got sick all of the sudden yesterday morning and got worse when I woke up this morning. But I feel a little bit better. Anyway, enough about me, remember, I'm not following along the story that the book had in the arena. Since the Divergent characters are involved, I thought it'd be better to make up something new. The thing that stayed the same was Katniss, Finnick, and Peeta working together after the bloodbath, until the end... I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please review:) I'll try my best to keep you guys updated:)**

_**divergentdandelion: **_**Finally updated!:D here's chapter 22 but there's a cliffhanger at the end... I'll try tokeep you updated as fast as I can! Thank you for reading and please review again!:)**

_**krikanalo: **_**Bloodbath! Haha, it wasn't the best but I tried. In case you're wondering, none of the Divergent characters have died yet; none of them died in the bloodbath, because most of them took off swimming to seek the land. So yeah, thanks for reading and hope to hear from you again!:D**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** There was a lot of Finnick in here;) did you vocalize? Haha, anyway, thank you so much for reading!:)**

_**Raina4Ever: **_**Aw, thank you so much! It means a lot when you guys love my story:) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try my best to keep you updated sooner:D**

_**Guest:**_** Yay! I'm glad it's one of your favorites!:D I didn't think it was anyone's favorite but thank you:) I try:) and yeah, it'll be different than the one from the book. I'll try my best to make it fantastic!:D Thank you and hope to hear from you again:D**

_**lollipop:**_** Updated!:D Yeah, Tris had trouble in the water, that's why Annie helped her. But thank you so much and hope you liked this chapter!:) please review again:)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Tris

I watch every single drop of water that falls and drips on the green ground when I sprint through—what appears to be—a jungle. I grab Annie's hand and turn left, pushing large green leaves out of the way.

The arena is circular and the thing called, the Cornucopia, sits in the middle of the arena. When the gong sound went off and the Games officially began, I didn't know what to or where to go. I felt lost and finished when I saw a bloodbath taking place near the Cornucopia. I jumped into the water and hid near my metal plate so no one could see me. I saw Katniss before she jumped into the water though. She eyed me with a bizarre look and I couldn't help it but shake a little. When I was in the water, Annie touched my shoulder and I jumped, nearly hurting her. I trust her though and she helped me get to the land, which is why we're here now, scampering around for a safe place. But there isn't a safe place here.

"I think it's safe here," Annie stops and places her hands on her knees, gasping for air.

"Maybe," I say and push my hair back. "Hey, thanks for helping me. You didn't have to do that."

"Oh Tris," she says and places her hand on one of my shoulders, "I wouldn't just leave you there. I'm glad I helped you. And, I know this is kind of personal, but you can't swim?"

"I'm terrified of water, well not necessarily water, but drowning." I say and all of the sudden, she's giggling.

"What's so funny?" I question.

"Sorry," she says, "I don't know why I laugh at random times."

I look at her strangely and notice that does have a problem. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but as soon the cannon goes off, she covers her ears and shakes as if she's going through a seizure. I enclose her in my arms and rub her back, running my finger down her soft hair.

"Calm down," I whisper to her, so no one can hear us. "Calm down, Annie. It's just the cannon. Calm down."

"Someone just died again," she drops on the ground and I try to pull her back up but fail. "Didn't you just hear that? What if it was Finnick?"

_Finnick._

I bite my lip when I think of them. What if Annie's right? What if one of _them_ just died? I shake my head and gaze back down at Annie, trying to pull her back up again.

"Come on, Annie," I tell her as I finally manage to get her up. "We have to find a hiding spot. Someone's probably near us right now."

She doesn't say anything else but agrees with me and follows me through a long a leafy path. I see a tree with a bunch of hard nuts that hang down like grapes and get as many as I can, tossing two to Annie. We continue walking as quietly as possible through the long path that covers us with every tree rooted on the ground, along with the leaves growing out of them.

"Annie," I look back at her and notice that she's shivering. "You know how to swim really well."

She smiles as she rubs her arm. "Thanks," she says, "That's kind of why I won the Hunger Games a few years back."

"What year was it?" I question.

"The seventieth," she states. "The arena flooded and I was supposedly the best swimmer."

"Wow," I say and turn around to continue along the path. I didn't get anything from the Cornucopia. I couldn't. Annie doesn't have anything either. I wonder if there was a gun somewhere hidden there; I didn't train with one but I have used plenty of them. I doubt it though. _They wouldn't put a gun here._

"Do you hear that?" Annie suddenly whispers. I notice the noise too. It sounds like someone's stomping on the ground, trying to be as silent as possible. But whoever it is, they're not doing much of a good job as we can hear. I take another small step when a tribute jumps out of nowhere and grips my neck hard. I try to gasp for air but can't and I hear Annie yelling out the name of the tribute I met during training sessions. One of the victors from last year's Hunger Games. The male tribute from District 12.

"Tris!" he calls out and releases me. "I'm so sorry; I thought you were someone else."

He pulls me in for hug and I can't help it but hug him back. I'm glad that _he's _alive. I wasn't thinking about him but all of the sudden, Uriah pops into my mind. I saw him during the bloodbath—he swam quickly to get a sword and fled the bloodbath. He was one of the first ones to swim out of there, along with Jordan, Sandra, Felix, and Daryn. Axton and Brayde were dominating the other tributes with the help of the tributes from Districts 1 and 2. Tori told Uriah and me that they're called, the Careers. The reason they're named that is they were trained for years before they were old enough to compete. When a tribute would get picked, they'd volunteer for them. Nobody volunteered for none of _us._

"Where's Katniss?" I ask.

"I don't know," Peeta says, "I can't find her. I tried looking for her because I heard someone near me when I was keeping a lookout for her and Finnick."

"You know where Finnick is?" Annie almost yells as loud as she can for the whole tributes in the arena to hear.

"No," says Peeta. "I don't know where both of them are. I assume they're together though."

"Do you know where they went?" I ask.

"To get weapons from the Cornucopia but when I heard noises getting near me, I tried looking for them but couldn't find them anywhere. I got lost and that's when I found the two of you. Again, I'm really sorry for what I did."

I cough a little to let air get into my lungs again and say, "It's fine. I don't blame you."

Peeta pats me on the back as Annie covers her ears and looks like she's in pain. I rapidly rush to her and grab her shoulders nicely and softly, due to her fragileness.

"What's wrong?" I'm almost yelling. "Annie? Talk to us!"

She doesn't respond but shuts her eyes tight and looks up at the sky. I keep shaking her, hoping for an answer but nothing comes out of her mouth. Not one word.

"Annie?" I repeat and that's when Peeta shakes me.

"Tris…" he says quietly and points at the sky as well.

I take in a deep breath before I finally gaze up at the sky and suddenly see drops falling on us, almost everywhere; but it's not rain. It's not water.

_Blood._

Peeta has the lead as he sprints through various paths; Annie and I follow him, trying to keep up with him. He's a quick runner and so is Annie. I feel like I'm the slowest out of all tributes.

The blood from the sky is suddenly disappearing as we keep running and running forward. I push my hair back and feel the sweat that covers my forehead—I notice that the blood has smeared on my hand but I keep running and running, pushing several vines and leaves out of the way.

When we finally get away from the blood, we find a small spot that could make a good hideout place. It's perfect for the three of us. Annie manages to quickly plop down and catch her breath. Peeta puts his hands on his knees and catches his breath like that as I put my hands on my head and let the air cool me down, letting me catch my breath as well.

"Blood?" I question.

"I have no idea," Peeta says, "It never happened last year."

I close my eyes and when I open them, I notice that Annie looks worn out. She looks like a blanket that has been stomped on and damaged for ages—she looks like an old ragged-up doll.

"Are you okay, Annie?" I ask and move over to her. She looks frightened and stiff, kind of like Sandra was when she was reaped. Her fingers look like they're cramping up and her head keeps shaking. She keeps staring at something in front of her, her front direction. I look and see nothing.

"What is it?" I ask her again.

No answer.

Annie isn't insane; she's crazy and nuts but she can't be this insane. Something's not right around here. Something has to be wrong for her to look like she does. I bite my lip as she points at the direction she's eyeing on. Peeta and I exchange glances before we approach the spot where Annie is pointing at, and that's when I know that my prediction is right. That's when I know that this might not be a safe spot after all. I know exactly why the cannon went off moments ago. I try my best not to let any tears flow down my cheeks, but I know that I have to be brave. The girl who used to be the Stiff just isn't me anymore. She may be somewhere inside me but she's not me right now.

I blink the tears away, gently pull Annie up, and the three of us continue running somewhere else, leaving Felix's corpse alone.

* * *

**NOTES: I haven't updated in a while! Sorry, I've been caught up with the whole Comic-Con thingy. I didn't go but I was watching the live-streaming. I can't believe the Divergent footage is exclusive to only Comic-Con! It's so not fair that only the people who went, got to see it! Like, some people can't go to Comic-Con; we deserve the footage as much as the people who went. Sorry, I'm complaining but I'm just really disappointed that they didn't at least put it online. Anyway, we did get another Catching Fire trailer! I gotta say, it looks way better than the first one, the first movie. Eh... The first Hunger Games was kind of disappointing as they missed out a lot of parts from the book. But then again, the books are always better! So enough of that, let's get to this story. So... Felix is dead. In case you guys forgot... Felix is the twelve-year-old little boy from Amity. Yeah... I feel sorry for killing him off but I thought about it and realized that I didn't have nothing in store for him... Sorry to all of you guys who liked him! But then again, he didn't come out in the story a lot; he had a minor role. But anyway, the blood! Hour 1 and 2 are the blood! You guys remember?! I feel sorry for Annie though; she's just too fragile to be in the Games. She needs Finnick! But we'll see what happens:D Thank you guys and please review!:D (P.S. This isn't the best chapter I've written but I want to keep you guys updated, so please ignore the mistakes!)**

_**divergentdandelion:**_** XD thank you for reviewing again and I hope you enjoyed this chapter:D**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Oh yeah! Catching Fire trailer! The movie needs to be released already! Grrrr... But now you know who died... He wasn't that important but it's still sad:( He's only twelve:'(**

_**krikanalo:**_** Chapter 23! Well I hope you liked this chapter!:D Thank you!:D**

_**Guest:**_** Cliffhanger has been revealed! Poor Felix:( he wasn't that important to the story but then again, he's just a little boy. And about the jabberjays... we'll see:D thank you for reviewing and please review again!:) (P.S. Yes, Tris and Annie, and now Peeta are allies.:))**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Katniss

I gather the knives I took, put them all in my sheath, where my arrows are, and grab the sword, waiting for Finnick to collect his weapons. I take a peek at the path we're about to take. It's clear.

"Come on," I whisper to Finnick.

We look everywhere, trying to find Peeta or anyone else, but no one appears. Not one tribute jumps in or pops in front of us. I exchange glances with Finnick and notice that he looks worried. I know he's worried for Annie, worried that she's out there in danger; at risk of getting killed. However, I know that she may be with Tris. I trust Tris, but like Haymitch told me… _You just remember who the enemy is._ Tris wouldn't kill Annie, she couldn't. The cannon may have been someone else, probably someone else from the other districts or factions. It can't be Tris. It can't be—_she's not the enemy._

"Katniss," Finnick says, "What if that was Annie? What if that cannon was hers? It probably was."

I shake my head and get closer to him, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"It's not," I say, but I feel a sudden doubt. "She's still alive."

Before he can say anything else, I begin the path, pointing my sword everywhere to make sure I have something to protect myself with. I cut several vines along the path to let me see the other side but no one's there. Finnick holds his trident and points it everywhere as well. We know someone's watching us, we know there's someone near us, ready to kill us off.

"Wait," Finnick stops me. We hear footsteps, crushing the branches that are on the hard ground. The noises get closer and closer, and all of the sudden, for a slight second, a tribute runs across us and pushes me hard that I fly to a tree, hitting my back hard against the wood. The tribute doesn't look back but keeps running past Finnick and that's when I notice that he's one of the tributes from the factions. He's the male tribute from the faction whose virtue is selflessness. Jordan.

Finnick takes a quick look at me before I hop up and the both of us begin dashing through the path, following the path that Jordan just ran by. We're not trying to kill Jordan but there's a reason why he was running. He probably faced a near-death experience. He did. I stomp on the ground hard, creating major sound waves that echo across the entire arena, letting the other tributes know ours exact location. I look back and see that no one's following us, but as I look back frontwards, I don't even recognize the face that I collide with.

Pain travels through my head as I fall on my back. The other tribute falls as well and I can barely regain my vision when Finnick helps me up. As soon as everything turns linear and balanced again, I notice that it was Wiress who I knocked over. Beetee is with her as he helps her up as well. I haven't seen them since the televised interview, and I also didn't see them during the bloodbath. They most likely escaped and managed to get to the land before anybody could get to them.

I bite my lip as I look at Wiress, how middle-aged she looks, maybe older. She did win several years ago, but I wasn't born yet when her Games aired.

"I'm sorry," I apologize to her and put my sword down. "I didn't realize you were there."

"It's okay," she rubs her forehead, which has turned red.

"Who are you guys running from?" asks Beetee.

Jordan pops into my mind again. He was running from someone, probably by a group of tributes—maybe even the Careers. But did he pass by Wiress and Beetee? Did they see him fly by, like Finnick and I did? Did they see Peeta?

"We were trying to follow the guy from Abnegation," Finnick says, "We wanted to see where he was going."

That wasn't why, but maybe that's what Finnick was doing, maybe that was his purpose.

"Did he pass by here?" I add.

"We didn't see anyone," Wiress says, "We saw someone running from a far distance but not anywhere near us."

_Someone running from a far distance. _Maybe it was Peeta, maybe it was. I start to think of last year when Peeta pretended to ally with the Careers. He did that to protect me; he saved me from death once again, like the time at District 12 when it was a cold rainy day and I was starving, freezing; ready to die. But Peeta, risking getting in deep, severe trouble with his mother, threw a whole slice of bread, saving my life. It may have been slightly burnt, but it was something. It was a major difference, saving my whole family with just a whole slice of bread. I need to do everything I can to protect him though. I'll ally with Careers if that's all it takes. I'll do anything. Anything.

"You guys want to join us?" I offer my hand to the both of them. Haymitch told me to remember who the enemy is, but Wiress and Beetee are not the enemy. Both of them combined aren't the enemy.

Beetee and Wiress exchange glances before Wiress they both shake mine and Finnick's hands. Now, it's Finnick, Beetee, Wiress, and me… If Peeta was still here, we'd be five. But we're four. Four of us forming something, forming a defense.

I scowl when I take a look at the Careers, hogging up the Cornucopia. I notice four additional tributes with them; two males and two females. I know who they are too. They are now alliances of eight. Gloss, Cashmere, Brutus, Enobaria, Axton, Daryn, Brayde, and Tanya.

I quietly move over to the water and splash my face, letting the saltwater cover my face in, soaking it all up. Wiress, Beetee, and Finnick are behind every tree there is, keeping for a lookout. We're all four rinsing our faces to freshen up. Beetee and Wiress have done so already and successfully, but Finnick and I are taking a huge risk. I quickly rush over back to the jungle and let Finnick rinse himself in. I look around and point my arrow everywhere just to make sure we're safe and clear. But when Finnick finally makes his way towards us again, that's when I hear a loud banging noise coming our way. It's not the cannon. It's not just an ordinary banging noise. It sounds like someone just fired near us with a gun… a gun in the arena.

The four of us quickly manage to get out of there, scuttling through every path we can find to get away from the Careers. As we run, I start to wonder how they would allow a gun in the arena—maybe even guns! There are probably more guns hidden near the Cornucopia! I don't remember one time when there was gun in the past Hunger Games, not one time. There probably has been in the early Games but not recently, not in the last fifty years or so. I think of Tris when I think of guns. She said that people back from her faction—Dauntless—told her that she was extremely good. But she said that she despises guns; that she doesn't want to come in contact with one. The reason is she shot one of her best friends in the head. He was brainwashed and was under a serum when he was shot. Tris only did it to defend herself and I don't blame her… I probably would have done the exact same thing.

We make a turn right, just to make sure they don't spot us easily when all of the sudden I see Peeta. He's not alone though. He's with Tris and Annie—I was right about the two. They are allies.

"Peeta!" I cry and rush over to him to give him a kiss. "Peeta! Where the hell did you go? Why'd you leave us?"

"Annie!" I hear Finnick and see that he goes up to Annie and lifts her up for a kiss as well.

Peeta looks at me and touches my braid. I look down at his jumpsuit and back into his blue eyes. He's not dead. He's not dead.

"Well," he goes on, "When you and Finnick were getting more weapons, I heard someone near me, and I was trying to get you guys but I got lost and kept running until I bumped into Tris and Annie."

I'm suddenly glad that he found the two of them.

"Tris," I walk over to her after I hug Peeta again. "You're okay."

She smiles a little and folds her arms across her chest. Her forehead is smeared with blood and so is the top part of her hair. I notice that Annie had a few spots of smeared blood on her too. Peeta has a few on his hair but not as much as Tris. I look back and see that Wiress and Beetee just stand there, looking at us.

"Oh," I say and walk over to them, "By the way, this is Wiress and Beetee. You've met them, right Tris?"

Tris shakes her head and I notice that she probably didn't meet many tributes. I didn't meet many last year, on my first year and this is Tris's first year. But then again, you're only supposed to go into the Hunger Games once. I don't believe the card that President Snow read when he announced what this year's Quarter Quell would be. I don't.

"Oh," I say, "Well, you guys, this is Tris."

Wiress smiles and says, "I know who you are," she tells Tris, "Beetee and I were looking at you train with knives during training sessions. You're incredible."

"Thanks," says Tris, "I wouldn't call myself incredible though."

"You're good enough to be incredible." adds Beetee.

I look around as I walk towards Peeta again. Finnick is comforting Annie and talking to her. Beetee and Wiress stand there as Peeta, Tris, and I are quiet. So it's basically only Finnick and Annie talking. I think of President Snow and wonder what he's thinking as he watches this—as he watches us. He's probably hoping and betting that I'll die soon, that he'll get what he wants. I can let that happen though. That means that Peeta can be alive, but I have to stay alive for almost the entire Games before I'd let Peeta win.

"Tris," says Peeta. "Where's Uriah?"

Tris shrugs and begins looking around, but doesn't get too far from us. She tells us that she'll be nearby and not get out of our sights. Peeta tells her not to get too far away though; I'm afraid she won't listen. I know Tris can take care of herself and probably doesn't need us—most likely. But I trust Tris and I consider her an ally. I watch as she's not too far from us; she's probably only a few yards away.

I sigh and exchange glances with Peeta for another time before there's a dead silence. I hear the sounds of the leaves that the wind makes when it blows them. I actually feel like it's pushing some of the trees away as well. I close my eyes and before I or anyone else can say something else, Tris breaks out into a loud shriek that goes away after a second. Terrified, I turn, sprint towards where she is but when I get there—just a few yards away from where we all were—Tris is not there. I breathe heavily, feeling like my lungs are going to erupt by all of the oxygen I'm inhaling. I look around, almost spinning like I did during the televised interview, and then all of us are in silence again.

* * *

**NOTES: Sorry I didn't update today! Did I update yesterday...? I think I did! Sorry, I tend to forget stuff. But anyway, today's my birthday and I didn't write much - I know the day's almost over but yeah... I'm finally 16!:) Anyway, enough about me, Wiress and Beetee came into view! I'm glad they're all allies now but there was, yet, another cliffhanger... Tris got kidnapped.I'm really excited for how all of this is going, and I can't believe this story's almost done! It's more than halfway done; I have like 75% of it done already, so yeah... Anyway, thank you all for reading and please review!:) (P.S. I saw the new Catching Fire trailer, and I gotta say that it was genius and badass! *I don't cuss and when I do, it's either because I'm extremely mad or because I'm just so happy and anxious* The bad news is, they didn't and won't release the first footage of Divergent online:( I'm really bummed about that but hey, there'ss be a trailer for it soon!)**

_**ScarletNox140:**_** I know I already PM'd you but thank you once again! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter:)**

_**Juliet's**_** Shadow: Yeah... I feel bad for killing off Felix. And, now, another cliffhanger with my Tris:( I'm really sad about them not showing us the Divergent footage but we did get the Catching Fire trailer!:D And thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter!**

_**krikanalo:**_** Thanks! And I can't believe he's dead either. I didn't think I would kill him off quickly but I decided to... I hope you liked this chapter!**

_**Raina4Ever: **_**Thank you! And well, here's chapter 24! I hope you liked it and please review again:)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Tris

I try to bite the hand that's covering my mouth as the owner of it drags me not far from where I was. But the tribute keeps dragging me until it stops and puts me down near a bush, and when he finally takes his hand off my mouth, I notice that it's Uriah.

For a minute, I thought I was nearing death; I thought I was about to be killed, about to become another victim. I want to scream but at the same time I don't because I found Uriah… or he found me. I slap him across the face before I say, "Dammit Uriah! What were you thinking?"

He laughs for a moment.

"Sorry," he smiles, his teeth are white against his bronze skin. "I didn't want you to scream."

"I kind of did though," I say.

"But then I covered your mouth."

I thought it was one of the Careers who had gotten me. I don't know where Uriah was but I know that he wasn't with them. He's not a traitor. I try to think where he has been this whole time but only get one thing in my mind… he's probably been hiding the whole time just looking for me, wondering if I'm dead or not.

"Why didn't you just get near me and showed yourself?" I question, because he could've done that.

"I told you," he says, "I didn't want to startle you or anything to make you scream."

"You still scared me to death though," I respond, "Where have you even been anyway?"

He stares down at the ground as we sit behind the bush. He did make an impression during our campaign—I think I did but I know that my televised interview may have ruined my chances of getting any sponsors. Or so Tori said. I don't care if I don't get any sponsors though. I've just noticed that I've lived through a lot, through a massacre, through almost everything that could have killed me in one second. I could've died during the Cornucopia bloodbath or could've drowned if Annie wouldn't have saved me. I'm still thankful to her for that.

I scowl when Uriah doesn't answer. It's a simple question. I think to myself. It's simple to answer—if he would've asked me that, I'd tell him right away. I could say something like, "I was with Annie." or, "Annie and I are allies." It's simple. But I feel something in my heart when he says…

"I've been looking for you."

I frown a little but then again, I can't help it but grin. I touch my lips and pretend to play with them though, so he won't notice that I smiled a little. I appreciate that he was looking for me, but I realize that I was just doing the same thing when he found me and dragged me away from the group. _We were looking for each other._

I start to wonder what Katniss, Peeta, and the rest are thinking now. Are they worried that I'm gone? Are they panicking? Are they searching for me? It doesn't matter though; I might die any minute out here. And if or when I die, it will not impact them—it won't matter to them, because they'll still live. They will still have a shot of winning the 75th Hunger Games. I'm pretty much, and the rest, are a piece of _their _Games. We don't matter anything to _them._

"You don't have any weapons?" I ask, noticing that he's empty-handed.

"I have a knife," he takes one out from behind him. I'm wide-eyed.

"You actually went towards the Cornucopia?" I question, surprised but at the same time not, because Uriah is brave enough to go into a bloodbath, just to get one weapon.

"It was the closest one to me. I had to get it. But… here," he places it in my hand and wraps my hand around it, wrapping both of his hands around my hand. "You're brave, Tris."

I suddenly close my eyes and think of Tobias. _He's watching this._ I know that he's upset for what's currently occurring. I'm basically holding both of Uriah's hands. I know they should be holding Tobias's; I wish they were, but I'm not. And I'm not holding Uriah's hand; at least I don't think so.

When Uriah releases his hands off my hand, I take a closer long at the knife, examining its fine and sharp point. It doesn't look like the ones I trained with during our sessions, but it's pretty similar. I like this one better though. Something about it makes it better; I bet because it was set out exclusively for the arena.

"Thank you," I turn to look at Uriah's dark eyes. He actually got a knife and just gave it to me; would I have done the same?

"So, were you all by yourself?" he asks.

"No," I say, "I was with Katniss, Peeta, Annie, Finnick, Wiress, and Beetee."

"Who are Annie and Finnick? Oh, wait, they're the ones from District Four, right? Well, then who are Wiress and Beetee again?" he looks puzzled and confused.

"Finnick and Annie are from District Four. Wiress and Beetee are from District Three." I state.

"Oh, I remember them now."

I take another look at the knife again and notice that it's also shinier than the ones I used. It's actually shinier than any of the ones I've ever used, even back at the Dauntless compound. I can't think of knives without thinking of Dauntless headquarters. I can't think of anything without thinking of any faction; I think about Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite the most—I can see how I'm Divergent and fit into all of those three. I think I can fit in almost anything… I made it all the way over here.

There's a moment of silence when all of the sudden, I hear a noise. I'm sure Uriah hears it too by the way his expression has changed. The sound tickles my ear that I actually want my eardrum to bust so I can't hear. I feel the slight touch of Uriah's hand and look at him one last time before we jump out of the bush, and Uriah wraps his arm around the tribute's—who turns out to be Jade's—neck. She hollers but can't after she Uriah's strong arm is around her neck, not letting her talk or even breathe. I point the knife at her and notice the look in her eye that makes me not want to kill her.

"Stop it," I tell Uriah. He doesn't. "Stop, Uriah!"

I get him to release Jade and quickly plop down to make sure she's okay after she falls. I know this event is about killing other tributes until you're the last one standing, but I feel something about Jade; something that makes me not want to kill her.

"Are you okay?" I gently hit her back so she can breathe a little better.

She nods and coughs.

"What are you doing?" Uriah whispers to me when I look up at him.

I don't say anything but help Jade up. I'm being selfless. But I still feel selfish; I don't feel brave though. I know that helping Jade wasn't probably the best idea but I just couldn't kill her. I just couldn't and can't. I feel a little bit of doubt though; for saving her. I just don't know why I'm suddenly feeling mixed emotions.

As we walk, I keep turning my back. I don't know why but I guess it's just to see if Jade's still following us. Uriah and I are leading the way to find Katniss, Peeta, and the rest. We've lost them—they must've moved farther away from where we were. If they didn't, they'd be nearby. But maybe they still are near us; we probably just haven't realized it yet.

We turn right when all of the sudden, tiny, searing stabs—wherever the globules of mist touch my skin. I can't see a thing and again, something stabs my skin again.

"Run!" I scream and we turn back, sprinting through another path. I notice that Jade is still with us but is running slower than I expected. The undergrowth vines, which also unbalance me at some points as I dart, must slow her down.

"What is it?" Uriah shouts and I look back at the wall of fog.

"Some kind of fog!" I say, "Poisonous gas! Hurry!"

We keep running as the mist continues to lap at our heels. Droplets leap free of body vapor—it burns but not as much as fire. It's less of heat but more of intense pain as the chemicals bury into our skin. Our jumpsuits are no help at all; they might as well just let us be naked for all of the protection they give us.

I take Uriah's hand as we run, about ten yards into where we were. I look back and Jade is still with us.

"Come on, Jade!" I yell to her and offer her my other hand. She doesn't say anything but grabs on and it's now the three of us. I start to remember when it was Tobias, Uriah, and I. Three of the Divergent. I wonder if Jade's Divergent—I doubt it. She hasn't said anything since we spotted and almost slaughtered her. She doesn't seem like the type of shy girl, but more vicious. She looked vicious during the reaping and during the campaigns. I didn't really look at her during training sessions, but during the televised interview, her voice was exactly how I thought it'd sound like.

I still feel the fog through my legs when I manage to speed things up, almost releasing the two. It'd be a selfish act; I have to think from both of their perspectives. Uriah's faster than me and he can catch up to me easily but I'm thinking mostly about Jade. I should be helping her even more. As we continue loping and scuttling almost everywhere, I begin to think of the blood that occurred earlier. Why blood? And now fog. I'm puzzled and feel like just collapsing but I have to keep running; I have to prove to everyone that I'm not weak, that I'm not a piece of anyone's Games. I'm brave, I'm selfish, I'm selfless; I'm Divergent.

The three of us tear apart and fall onto the ground when we get away from the fog. I breathe heavily and lay down on my back, gasping for air, feeling my lungs begging for it. I look at Jade and she's doing the same thing. Uriah's in a crawling position, gasping for air as well. It looks like he's about to vomit everywhere, but luckily doesn't. I look up at the sky and it doesn't look pink anymore—like it did at the beginning of the Games. I'm positively and confidently sure that we just attracted even more eyes to the screenings everywhere in Panem. Tori said that the Games would also be televised back at home; I'm sure Tobias looked even closer at what just happened.

I close my eyes and when I open them again, there's a shade covering my body. I roll onto my belly and that's when I see _them._ Katniss is right in front of me.

"What happened?" she plops down and offers me water. She didn't have water earlier. I clutch the bottle, which is made out of metal, and chug almost all of the water she has.

"There was fog," I gasp, "There was fog everywhere and we kept running until there wasn't."

I take another sip before I give it back to Katniss. _They didn't face the fog._

"Hi Katniss," I see Uriah offering his hand to her. She shakes it and that's when I know that all of us are officially an alliance, including Jade as she still with us.

It's dark by the time we've found a safe spot. The cannon went off two more times today and when the anthem played, they showed pictures of those who went deceased. I saw the faces of: both tributes from District 5, both from District 6, both from District 8, both from District 9, both from District 10, and Felix.

Pain stabbed my stomach when I saw Felix's face there. He was only twelve-years-old for God's sake! They killed a twelve-year-old. I still remember the sword that was stabbed through the back of his neck and out of the front of his throat when we found him. I feel like tearing up again, but I have to be strong. I have to.

The voices of Jade and Annie wake me up and I notice that they are a few feet away from the rest of us. They're on the other side of a bush that's near me. I crawl towards it—to get a better hearing of what they're talking about and my eyes widen when I hear Jade say, "You whiny little bitch; I don't even see how you won in the past."

I hear Annie's sobs and when I peek through the bush, one of Jade's thin hands are tightened on Annie's neck.

"You don't know how to do anything on your own. You're just a weak, worthless piece of shit. Do you have any last words?" I notice the knife that she holds, it's bigger than mine.

I grip my own knife and quietly walk towards them, standing behind Jade.

"Let her go," I say and before she can say or do anything else, she turns around. I position my knife swiftly before I dig the blade into her stomach, hearing her gag, dropping her knife on the floor. "I knew I couldn't trust you. I'm stupid for thinking that I could. Why don't you die already, you worthless piece of shit. You coward."

Blood begins to come out of her mouth when I shove the knife in deeper. I can see the look in her icy blue eyes, looking at me with guilt. But she's done the damage. She was about to kill Annie, and Annie saved me. It was time for me to save her. I pull the knife out and that's when a little bit of blood squirts on my jumpsuit and Jade's body drops on the ground.

Annie is coughing and I reach down to calm her down, telling her that it's okay and for her to go back to sleep. I look at the knife that Jade had and before I can say anything else, I grab it and hand over to Annie.

"Here," I say and she takes it.

She thanks me and when Jade's cannon goes off, it startles everyone else.

"Where's Tris?" I hear Katniss and Uriah panicking.

"Where's Annie?" Finnick's worry is even greater.

We go back to the spot where they are and they all sigh in relief.

"What happened?" asks Katniss.

"Where's Jade?" asks Uriah.

I swallow my spit when I say, "She betrayed us. She was about to kill Annie. So I killed her."

Finnick thanks me and Uriah questions many things. He trusted Jade too. But I tell him that she was an enemy all along. The rest of them go back to sleep, including Uriah, who's right next to me. I try to go back to sleep but can't as I overhear Finnick and Annie.

Finnick's arms are wrapped around Annie and their faces are facing each other. I hear them kiss and talk.

"I'm so glad you're alive," Finnick says, "I don't know what I would do if you died."

"I'm sorry," Annie says, "I'm weak and don't know how to take care of myself."

"You're not weak, Annie," he says, "You're strong. You're one of the strongest girls I know. And the reason you can't take care of yourself the way you should is I take care of you, because you're mine."

Annie stays silent for a moment.

"I love you, Annie," I know Finnick truly loves her. He's not just saying that; he means that.

"I love you, too." Annie finishes before they kiss one more time and fall asleep in each other's arms. I wonder if that's the way Tobias and I would be if he was here with me. Finnick and Annie both truly love each other and Tobias and I do as well. But something about the two of them is different, whether it's how they act with each other or how they talk to each other. We're different. But, I love Tobias and I'm absolutely sure he loves me too. It just makes me realize that I love him even more now. He belongs to me and he's not my enemy. I have to keep my eyes open to see who the real enemy is…

_Because anyone here can be the enemy._

* * *

**NOTES: Sorry I didn't update yesterday! I was exhausted and didn't begin writing this chapter until like late. So if it's sloppy, please forgive me. I tried my best to make it good though... so I hope you guys liked it:) Anyway, three more tributes dead... the other two were the unmentioned ones from one of the districts, but the other one, obviously, was Jade. I knew from the start that Jade couldn't be trusted - Tris had mixed emotions and thoughts about her. Also, we got a more vicious side of Tris in this chapter! She killed someone, by stabbing a blade into Jade's stomach. It's kind of... disturbing but then again, we all like a bit of graphic violence! This is the Hunger Games after all! I also enjoyed writing the scene about Finnick and Annie after Annie was about to get killed. I don't know but something about those two makes it enjoyable to write. It's kind of weird but it's true! My friend, ****_Juliet's Shadow _****(BTW, you guys should definitely go check her out! She's awesome and an amazing writer!), she loves writing about Finnick and Annie; they're her favorites. But anyway, did you guys trust Jade all along? Or did you guys know that she wasn't a good tribute to ally with from the start? Well, thanks for reading this chapter and please leave a review!:)**

_**krikanalo:**_** Let's hope this spiced things up a bit!:D I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you!:D**

**_Raina4Ever: _****Thank you!:) I hope you liked this chapter even more! Well, Tris is okay:) which is good:) but I hope you didn't start to like Jade... Yeah, even her name sounds vicious... Haha, thank you! And please review again:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Oooh, a zoo! I haven't been to one since I lived in El Paso. Hope you're having fun over there!:D And more Finnick and Annie in this;) I hope you liked this chapter and thanks!:)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Katniss

We all gather around the next afternoon—we escaped a fog, which Tris, Uriah, and Jade faced yesterday. The fog was some sort of poisonous gas and we barely escaped it. Wiress was having trouble, but Beetee held on to her the whole time as I held on to Peeta. We also experienced lightning; heavy lightning that struck many trees, almost striking us. The cannon has only gone off once today, and luckily, it's no one from our alliance.

"We need to find another safe spot," says Finnick.

I point my sword everywhere we go when all of the sudden, Peeta stops. He has an inexplicable look on his face as he looks up at the trees, all of the vines that hang down to the ground. The whole group stops and Annie covers her ears, falling on the ground but only for Finnick to catch her.

"Annie," I hear Finnick. "Annie, what's wrong? What's wrong?"

He's almost screaming but Annie keeps her ears covered as Finnick helps her up. I look into Peeta's eyes, which remind me of the blue sky, and he looks at me for a second before he looks up at the trees again.

"What is it?" I ask him in a low and soft voice.

"Monkeys…" I can barely hear him whisper that word.

Monkeys. I know what they are but I've hardly seen them. I have never seen a live monkey—there's nothing like that in our woods at home. But I must have seen a picture, or one in the Games, because when I see the creatures, the same word comes to my mind. My vision sees that they have orange fur, although it's hard to notice. They're also about half a full-grown human's size; half my size and anybody else's—almost Tris's size.

Everyone pauses and stays quiet, positioning their weapons as I slowly and inaudibly pull an arrow from my sheath and position it on my bow, pointing it at the monkeys. They rapidly depart from the top of the trees, strolling down the vines that I'm not sure how it's possible for the vines to hold their weight. I've never seen such animals climb down from something as fast as these mutts. They stare at us as they make odd noises and before any of us can say anything else, Finnick and Uriah yell, "Run!"

Only a couple of us have time to run before piles and piles of monkeys lunge toward us, especially for Peeta. I release multiple arrows at them, creating them the target that I was training with back at the training sessions. I see arrows going through their chests and stomachs as many of them collapse. I look over my shoulder and see Tris stabbing many of them to death but can't keep up with only one knife. I have no choice but to toss the ones I gathered at the Cornucopia. "Here!" I yell at her and throw them near her for her and Uriah to claim them. Uriah was fighting them with his own bare hands before he got a couple of knives that I just tossed to them. Finnick is using his trident as Wiress, Beetee, and Annie are running the other direction, trying to get away from them.

I turn around and see that two more are dashing forward to attack me, they're shrieking as their scream echoes across the entire arena—I have no arrows left. I shut my eyes tight and just as I open them again, I see an unfamiliar tribute shielding me with her small body for only the monkeys to turn her into an old rag doll, digging their sharp teeth and claws through her fragile chest and stomach. My hand is covering my mouth and I want to scream but don't have time as I look at Tris and she runs over to me, giving me a knife. I grab my sword, which had fallen off my hand when the monkeys ran towards us, and at the same time, Tris and I stab both monkeys on their backs, making them shriek their last few breaths away and collapse.

We both look around and see that Finnick has helped Peeta get the monkeys away from him—Peeta only took on a couple as he didn't have any weapons until Finnick offered him some of the weapons he collected at the Cornucopia. When I look at Uriah, he has killed the last one with the knives I gave him and now, the five of us are looking at the remains of Sandra's body. It only takes another second before the cannon goes off, informing us that Sandra's officially deceased.

As we catch up to Annie, Beetee, and Wiress, I hold on to Peeta's hand and glance at the far end of the path as we see another tribute standing there, but I can't recognize her face from far away. Hoerver, I do see that holds an axe with her right hand.

"Johanna!" Finnick shouts as we reach Beetee, Wiress, and Annie. "Johanna! Over here!"

Johanna—the tribute I was talking about—runs towards us and I notice that she's by herself. She's not with Blight, the male tribute from District 7.

"Okay," she says to Finnick as she reaches us, "Please tell me how you got Nuts and Volts with you."

"Nuts and Volts?" Uriah questions.

"Wiress and Beetee," Johanna explains, "Wiress is Nuts and Beetee is Volts."

I look over my shoulder and notice that Wiress has gone into a complete shock.

"Tick, tock," she says, "Tick, tock."

"Calm down, will you?" says Johanna, harshly and that's when I jump in and say, "Hey, lay off her, alright?"

Johanna then turns to look at me with pure hatred, pure evil in her eyes.

"Lay off her?" she responds, "Lay off her? Do you know how hard I tried looking for these two and all just for you—"

Before she can finish her sentence, she swings her hand across my face, making my head turn three-hundred and sixty degrees around.

"You didn't have to do that," says Tris as I feel the stinging on my cheek, feeling it turn bright red.

"Now you lay off," says Johanna in a vicious tone.

Tris doesn't say anything after that but pulls out her blade and points it right under Johanna's chin. "I know you can't be trusted," she says, "So if you're here to kill us all one by one, why don't I just kill you right now?"

That's when Uriah gets in between them, pulling Tris to the opposite way of Johanna as Finnick pulls Johanna gently next to he and Annie.

"Tick tock," Wiress says it again.

"Yeah, tick, tock," I agree, "Let's go."

By the time we have found another spot, which looks like a spot we've been at, a shiny clean Finnick and peeling Annie have joined us. We didn't have much time to get cleaned or cured a little with the saltwater but we had enough time for all of us to freshen up a bit. Finnick, Uriah, and Tris tell the whole group stories about the fog, the lighting, and a few insects. He also tells Johanna about the monkeys as Tris and Uriah tell us about the blood rain. When we're done talking, everyone offers to stay up and guard but only Tris, Johanna, and I manage to stay up.

The three of us sit in silence near the beach until the others have fallen to sleep.

"So how did you get Nuts and Volts?" Johanna glances at them to be sure they're asleep.

"Finnick and I found them when we were chasing this tribute—the one from Abnegation."

"Sandra?" she questions.

"No," I say, "Jordan."

Tris looks down at the ground and buries her face into her hands. I hear a few sobs coming from her but I get a surprise when Johanna pats her on the back nicely, and runs her fingers down her hair, telling her that it's okay, that it'll be okay. I know exactly what she's crying about, because I feel like tearing up for the same thing. Sandra, aged only twelve or thirteen, sacrificed herself for me. She didn't even talk to me once during training and when I'd see her, I would think that she would be killed right at the beginning of the Games. But I was wrong.

"Did you know her?" Johanna asks Tris.

Tris wipes a few tears of her face when she says, "No, not really."

I bet none of us knew her.

"Did you?" she asks Johanna.

Johanna takes a quick look at her axe and plunges it down on the ground when she says, "Yeah, I talked to her a couple of times during training. She was the only one I really talked to besides Finnick and Annie."

"How old was she?" I ask.

"Fourteen," says Johanna.

When she says _fourteen_, I think of Finnick. Finnick won his Hunger Games when he was only fourteen and I understand why. It'd be a huge shock, and not to just us, but the whole Capitol, if Sandra won this year's Hunger Games. She sort of reminded me of Prim with her blond hair, her small body, and her pale skin. When I watched the monkeys bite her into shreds, I suddenly saw like my sister was dying right in front of me.

"How come you were all by yourself?" I ask Johanna, wondering why.

"I was with Nuts and Volts," she says, "I got them out of the bloodbath and when I was getting my axe from the Cornucopia, they abandoned me and I've been looking for them ever since."

"Did Haymitch, by any chance, tell you to get them for me?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Yeah, he told me that you wanted them as allies," she says.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." I simply respond and suddenly feel like a little sister to her, a little sister whom she hates.

We all stay in silence when the anthem begins to play, showing all of the images of the tributes fallen today. Only two dead. Only two dead, and both from Abnegation.

_Jordan and Sandra._

After the anthem finishes, we stay in silence once more before all of the sudden, we hear, "Tick, tock,"

"Oh goody," Johanna says, "She's up again. I'm going to sleep; you, Tris, and Nuts can guard now."

She rapidly crawls next to Finnick and Annie, who have fallen asleep in each other's arms, and falls asleep instantly.

"Tick, tock," Wiress whispers again as I pull her next to me and try to get her to go back to sleep. "Tick, tock."

"Tick, tock, yeah," I agree softly, "Tick, tock, go back to sleep."

Tris looks at us and approaches us quietly and fast.

"Tick, tock," repeats Wiress continuously.

I try to help her get back to sleep with my warmth but fail. I exchange glances with Tris as she looks up at the sky and gets up to begin walking around the area. I get afraid that someone may kidnap her again or even worse… kill her.

"Uh…" I hear her as she slowly spins around and circles the large area. "Katniss…"

"Hold up, Tris," I tell her as I try to calm Wiress down but it's no use. It's impossible as she repeatedly says, "Tick, tock."

I startle and almost jump when I see a large flash of light strike a tree, not far from us. The lightning has begun again. I start to realize what Wiress is trying to say. This is the exact spot where the lightning hit us last time. The blood rain was on the exact location where we found Uriah, Tris, and Jade. The insects. The fog; everything. Twelve bongs.

_Tick, tock._

It keeps repeating in my head.

I rise up and follow Tris; she has the same expression Wiress has.

"Katniss," she says under her breath but I ignore her and keep circling. The lightning is here. The monkeys were over there. _Tick, tock._ The blood rain was and is on the other side. _Tick, tock._ The fog is on the other section. A couple of hours ago, the lightning hit us on this exact same spot—the blood rain is on the next section to right where the lightning hits. At noon. At midnight. At noon.

"Tick, tock," whispers Wiress in her sleep.

As the lightning ceases, the blood rain begins, and then the fog, and then the rest. It's a continuous thing that'll keep going and going until only one of us live. Wiress's words suddenly make sense.

"_Tick, tock_," now both Tris and I say it at the exact same time. Our eyes sweep around the circle of the arena and we both finally realize it…

_Tick, tock. This arena is a clock._

* * *

**NOTES: I'm here guys! I barely started this chapter like two or three hours ago, so yeah.I enjoyed writing this one, especially since this is the chapter when, not only Katniss, but Tris, find out that the arena is a clock. What I'm incredibly bummed and sad about is that Sandra and Jordan are both dead. Jordan was like Felix - minor character but he still mattered. Sandra, also kind of minor, she was doing a selfless thing. She's from Abnegation and she sacrificed herself for Katniss. I really liked Sandra and I actually feel like I could have added more of her and make her bigger in this story but eh... I'm really sorry if you guys liked both of them! R.I.P Jordan and Sandra. Anyway, Johanna's finally here! I'm sure there's a lot of of Jo fans out there!:D I knew from the start that Johanna and Tris weren't going to get along at the beginning but they're growing on each other. I know this wasn't long enough but this is all of this chapter... Also, I'm already wrapping up this story... I have great news for all of you but I'll announce it in the next chapter:) So thank you all of reading and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!:) please leave plenty of reviews!:)**

_**krikanalo:**_** Thank you so much:) I hope you enjoyed this one very much!**

**_Raina4Ever_****: Thank you!:) and yeah... I feel the EXACT same way about Tobias. He's pretty much in Gale's position but that doesn't mean that he's not important. Personally, I know you'll probably dislike me for this, but I don't like Gale. I feel like he's just there; sure he helped Peeta, Annie and them get rescued from the Capitol but for some reason, his character would get on my nerves. And I hated the love triangle, but I'm glad there's none in Divergent:) So yeah... I hope you enjoyed this chapter more!:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** You deserved the shoutout:) and I like Odesta:D it kind of sounds like Odessa;) haha, I hope you loved this chapter! You got Jo!:) and thank you so much:)**

_**Guest:**_** Thank you so much!:) Jade couldn't be trusted for sure. And how did you feel about Sandra?:( I'm glad you're enjoying this and I hope this chapter improved it even more! Thank you, again!:):)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Tris

A clock. I can almost see the hands ticking around the twelve-sectioned face of the arena. Each hour brings a new terror and horror—one that the Gamemakers have created to kill us off, one that satisfies every single coward in the Capitol. The lightning, the blood, the fog, the monkeys; everything what Wiress said finally makes sense. Wiress was right all along and wasn't just nuts.

"Get up!" Katniss and I shake the others awake. "Get up! It's time to move."

There's enough time to explain the clock theory to them, about Wiress's ticking, and how the movements of the invisible hands trigger a deadly force in each section.

As the others gather their weapons, Katniss awakens Wiress once again and only for her to burst into a, "Tick, tock!"

"Yes, tick, tock," Katniss tells her, "The arena's a clock. You were right; you were right about everything. We believe you now."

Wiress gives Katniss a look of relief when she says that and doesn't hesitate but to follow the rest of us. Everyone else has agreed about the theory but Johanna seems to be annoyed by our statements, like she's objecting or disagreeing with every single thing we say. I don't care though—I don't trust her and I don't want anything to do with her. She may have been helping me last night, but I still don't care. She can't be trusted.

Katniss and I are leading the group, because Uriah, Peeta, and Finnick aren't fully awakened but I'm sure they listened to us. We look at the Cornucopia and I assume that it's empty because as we've been near it these past few hours, it's been dead silent around here. My hypothesis is correct when we see that the place is abandoned; no Careers or Axton and them.

"One-thirty," Wiress nods at the blood rain.

"Yes," both Katniss and I say, "Exactly, one-thirty. And at two, a terrible poisonous fog begins there," We point at the other section of the jungle. "So we have to move somewhere safe now."

I check my weapons and secure my knives safely as the rest secure their weapons and medicine that they received.

Beetee is the only male who looks like he can't even open an eye.

"Wire," he suddenly says.

"Wiress is right there," says Peeta.

"Wire," he still continues.

He doesn't mean Wiress. He means something else as he points at the water, something which I can hardly see from the blue.

"Oh," Johanna sounds annoyed. "I know what he wants."

She gets into the saltwater, digging her hands in until she pulls out a cylinder. It's coated in a thick layer of congealed blood. "This stupid thing. It's some sort of wire or something. This is how he got cut. He was running up to the Cornucopia to get this. I don't know what kind of weapon it's supposed to be. I guess you could pull off a piece and use it as a garrote or something. But really, can you imagine Beetee garroting somebody?"

"He won his Games with wire, setting up an electrical trap." says Peeta. "That wire is his best weapon."

I have a gut feeling in my stomach and feel bizarre that Johanna knows all of this. It's a feeling that tells me I still can't trust her, and should be trusted less. Suspicious.

"It seems like you have it figured out," says Katniss, "Since you nicknamed him Volts and all."

Johanna gives Katniss a stare that she gave her yesterday—a glare that explains pure hatred.

"Yeah, really stupid of me, right?" she says, "Well I was probably distracted by trying to keep all of your friends alive, and what did you do? You killed Sandra?"

That's when I tighten my knife and I see that Katniss has done the same with her sword.

"I don't care if you're knocked up. I'll rip your throat out."

Pure anger is building up in me, something that I felt when I saw Jade threatening Annie. Now, which I recall, I see that Annie has her eyes shut tight, leaning her head on Finnick's shoulder. She doesn't want to see this or hear it as she covers her ears as well. _Man, those Games that she won, really must've messed her up._

"Shut up, Johanna!" I snap. "Can you just shut up? I'd like to go an hour without hearing your stupid comments!"

"What are you?" she tightens her grip on her ax. I can see it. "Little Miss Divergent. What does that even mean? You're protecting Katniss now? Protect yourself, and for the rest of these Games."

I don't say anything else but I do feel like strangling her, like wrapping both of my hands around her throat and dig my fingernails on the back of it. I can't kill her now but there'll be a moment when it's time for us. There'll be a moment when it's time that there can only be one victor. There'll be a moment when our group is going to have to break apart. There'll be a moment when the last tribute standing wins. _We're all preying each other._

"Look, I just want to get to the Cornucopia and checkout this clock, I want to make sure we're right about it," says Finnick.

"Yeah," Annie agrees with him in a soft voice as she opens her eyes again and uncovers her ears.

I start to think of what will happen if it's just the nine of us left. Who will kill who? I can't kill Katniss or Peeta; they've helped me out through all of this. Annie and I were allies from the start. And I can't kill that poor little thing. I can kill Johanna if she makes me angry like she did a minute ago. Wiress and Beetee—I can't kill them. They can maybe just die on their own, somewhere in the jungle. I don't know. Finnick. He's too strong for me but that doesn't mean that I can't take him. I probably _can't_, but I'd have to try. He can't die in the jungle as he has the skills already, even though he didn't know about the clock. He can die in a battle with the Careers and them… somehow.

Uriah.

I can't kill him. I absolutely cannot kill him. He helped me through Dauntless initiation. He helped during the Erudite's plan to keep everything under a simulation. He helped me through everything. He helped me even become braver than I already was. He can kill me, for all that helps. _I'll let him kill me._

We walk through the strips of sand and I take another close look at the empty Cornucopia. I wonder why none of the Careers, including Axton, Brayde, Daryn, and Tanya are there. What made them leave the area? Do they know the clock theory? Did they find out? If so, when exactly?

I bite my lip to keep myself from thinking anymore thoughts but just as we take another step, the cannon goes off. _Boom! Boom! Boom!_ Three times. Three fallen tributes. I look over my shoulder and see that all of us are still here. _Thank, God._

When we reach the Cornucopia, with care, Peeta lays Beetee on a shade that the golden horn offers. He calls out to Wiress, and she crouches beside him and Peeta puts the coil of wire in her hands. "Clean it, will you?"

She nods and begins dipping it in the water, singing a song about a mouse running up to a clock. It reminds me of a child's song, but even though it seems to annoy Johanna, it soothes and appears to blissfully improve Wiress's happiness.

"Oh, not that song again," Johanna rolls her eyes. "She wouldn't stop singing that before she went on with the ticking."

I want to say something to her but I know it's best to stay quiet. It's best not to create any problems yet. It's too soon.

Suddenly, Wiress stands on her feet and points to a section of the jungle, "Two!"

"Yeah," I say and follow her finger. "It's two and the fog has started."

"You're very clever and smart for figuring all this out, Wiress," says Peeta.

Wiress nods and continues to clean the wire. I look at Peeta and he's right next to the Cornucopia, appearing to be drawing something. A map.

"Look how the Cornucopia's placed," he says, showing all of us the map.

I examine the Cornucopia and know exactly what he means. The tail is pointing to twelve o'clock.

"The tail points to twelve o'clock," says Katniss.

"Right, so this is the top of our clock," he says, and quickly scratches the numbers one through twelve around the clock face. "Twelve to one is the lightning zone." He writes _lightning_ in tiny print in the corresponding wedge, then works clockwise adding _blood, fog,_ and _monkeys_ in the following sections.

"Ten to eleven is the wave," I say, because I remember Katniss mentioning seeing it on the first day of the Games. I think I'm right, but I'm not positively sure.

"You're right," says Peeta.

I'm glad that we have Wiress as part of the alliance. If it wasn't for her, we probably wouldn't have discovered that the arena is a clock. _She's clever,_ exactly like Peeta said. She's bright and knows exactly what she's doing. She's Nuts but she knows what she's doing.

We all stand in silence when all of the sudden, we hear a noise getting closer and closer to the Cornucopia. I pull out my knife and just as an instant second flies by, I see Gloss, soaked, running towards us with a giant sword, bigger than Katniss's. He saunters towards Wiress and as Katniss clutches an arrow from the ground, positions it on her bow, Wiress's neck is opened and quarts of blood squirt out like a water fountain. I cover my mouth with my hand and that's when I see that Daryn is right in front of me. I don't have time to blink or take another breath when her arms and shoulder are on my waist and I'm pushed to the hard ground with her. Her hand grabs my hair and pulls it hard enough to yank it off but I take my knife and slide it down her wrist. My skull is burning but I manage to stand, looking at Daryn holding her wrist and just as I lift my knife, a heavy body takes me into the water with it. It's Brayde.

My stomach hurts. My chest hurts. My skull hurts. I can't think straight but can only swim as fast as I can to get back on the small piece of land the Cornucopia stands on. Brayde is still in the water with his head sticking out when I look over my shoulder to see Finnick scrape large portions of Axton's skin with his trident. Katniss, just in time, releases an arrow for it to go through his head. I don't take another second but stretch my arm out and release my knife, letting it fly straight into Brayde's eye. All I can hear is his loud scream as he tries to take it off but can't. I notice that I still have two more knives with me, but I don't have enough time to grab another one when I notice a gun under Axton's leg. A gun.

I look around to see if anybody is close to me from all of the chaos but my area is empty, except for Daryn's body as it has a sword dug through her stomach. I swiftly approach Axton's body and claim the small gun. I have only a few seconds to examine it when I feel a blade slide across my forehead, feeling the blood tickling as it flows down to my mouth. I feel stinging all over my body, feeling like huge needles are stamping on every part of my the insides of my body. I scan everywhere and notice that it was Enobaria's knife but I don't have enough time to kill her as she quickly dives into the water and takes off.

I turn around but only to picture Gloss. I can't use my knife. I can't use my hands or feet on him. I only have my gun and I don't hesitate but fire right on his head. When I turn around, I see that Johanna has just buried her ax blade in Cashmere's chest. Tanya runs towards Uriah and Finnick's direction when she releases a knife, letting Uriah take a hit on his arm. Tanya has enough time to also dive into the water, swimming as fast as she can to catch Enobaria. _I need to kill them, _I think. I hold onto my gun tightly as I jump into the water, creating a huge splash to blind Brutus, giving Peeta the chance to push a sword's blade right into his belly.

Boom after boom after boom! It seems like a never-ending cycle. The first cannon revealed to us that there is no way to save Wiress now. I keep swimming and swimming but it's no use. Tanya and Enobaria have made it to the land and have taken off to God knows where.

_Dammit! You had them!_ I had them; I could've killed them both instantly with my gun. I could've killed them one by one! I could've caught up to them! _Dammit, Tris! Dammit!_

The commotion has stopped by the time I make it back to the Cornucopia. Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, Uriah, and Johanna look worn out. I am as well. Annie and Beetee were hiding near the Cornucopia, and luckily, none of them are injured or dead.

"Holy crap," says Uriah and approaches me, touching my forehead. It stings for a bit.

"Ouch!" I groan and back away a little.

"They got you," Finnick comments. "Who was it?"

"I think it was Enobaria," I say, "But I got this."

All of them gasp when I show them my gun. _So it's true. The Games have never had a gun in the arena before._

"Where'd you get that, Divergent?" Johanna questions.

"Under Axton's legs."

They're impressed by the gun but I cancel their show when I shove it in the available pocket of my jumpsuit. Katniss's expression has changed when, all of the sudden, she says, "Wiress!"

I can still see her body, flowing on the water like a boat. Katniss drops her sheath and weapons before she dives into the blue water and swims, like I did trying to reach Tanya and Enobaria, until she reaches Wiress.

She pulls the coil of wire from her hands and takes a moment there before she manages to swim back to us, giving Peeta a huge hug, creating a deep moment of silence again.

"Well, let's get out of here," finally says Johanna. We have just a number of weapons we've retained and have collected. I have my gun and my two knives. Meanwhile, Katniss has her arrows and her sword. Johanna has her ax, Finnick has his trident, Annie has the knife I gave her, Peeta has his sword, and Uriah has multiple knives. Beetee has his coil of wire, and he manages to stand on his feet when he says that he can walk.

We head to the beach of twelve o'clock and that's when Finnick, Annie, Peeta, and Johanna head off in three different directions.

We circle around the Cornucopia, inspecting the jungle. It has a baffling uniformity. I remember the tall tree that took the first lightning strike at twelve o'clock, but every sector has a similar tree. I try to look for Tanya's and Enobaria's tracks but they seem to have been blown or washed away… I still can't believe they got away from me.

I sigh.

"I don't think we should have mentioned the clock," I tell Katniss under my breath, "Now they're taken it to their advantage."

That's when Johanna stops walking and slowly approaches the both of us.

"What?" she responds.

"Nothing," I say.

She rolls her eyes. "Of course I was going to use this clock theory for my own benefit. What? You think I was just going to ignore it?"

I squeeze my gun harder.

"Listen up, Tris, Divergent… Whatever you are? I'm not afraid to rip your little head off. So watch what you say, okay?" she says and before she can walk off, I say, "I was talking about Tanya and Enobaria."

She doesn't say anything but shakes her head and keeps walking off with Peeta and Uriah. I look at Katniss one last time before the both us join the walk. We randomly choose a path and take it, having no idea what number we're headed for. When we reach the jungle, we peer into it, trying to decipher what may be waiting inside.

"It must be monkey hour," says Uriah.

"I don't see anything though," Peeta replies, "I'm going to try to tap a tree."

"No," says Finnick and I notice that Annie hasn't covered her ears or screamed. Finnick must really know how to help her get through those types of stages. He knows how to comfort her. "It's my turn."

"I'll watch your back then," says Uriah.

"Yeah, me too," Peeta adds.

"I think Katniss and Tris can do that," says Johanna and I exchange glances with her one last time before she adds, "Peeta needs to make another map. The other one got washed away."

She yanks a giant leaf off a tree and hands it over to Peeta. For a second, I start to believe that they're dividing us—that they're probably planning something, whether to help us live or help us die. But whatever it is, I don't trust this setup.

Katniss, Annie, and I follow Finnick until he finds a good tree and begins stabbing it, making a hole in it.

I think of how Uriah, Peeta, and Beetee are doing, dealing with Johanna. Uriah and Peeta are both bigger than her so they must be safe but Beetee's not too lucky himself. I realize that Katniss has done so much to keep Peeta alive. She tried fighting the monkeys the best she could in order to protect Peeta. She seemed super relieved when Annie, Peeta, and I found her. It almost makes me realize that she may even love him… or maybe I'm just going insane.

I watch Finnick as he makes the whole bigger and asks Katniss is she has the spile that they collected at the Cornucopia. I watch as Katniss cuts the vine that ties the spile to her belt and holds the metal tube out to him but that's when I suddenly hear a scream.

The scream sounds familiar, it sounds like it is in pain. It's deep but at the same time, it doesn't sound like a loud scream. I still consider it a scream though and I hear it from a far horizon. Fear strikes me when I realize who the voice is coming from. Anger, fear; everything hits me with a bullet that I feel like I can't move. I run uncontrollably in the direction of the voice, heedless of danger, ripping through vines and branches, through anything that keeps me from reaching him.

His voice keeps hitting my ears and I feel like covering them up but can't as I can't let the scream of Tobias's voice get away from me.

* * *

**NOTES: Today's Friday!:D and it's been a good day so far! I actually wrote this last night but didn't want to post it until today, because half or 75% would probably be asleep, so yeah... Anyway, in this chapter, there's a LOT of killing. All of the Careers are dead except for Enobaria. Tanya's still alive too, but she's not a Career - she just allied with them, along with Axton, Brayde, and Daryn, who are all three dead. I also noticed that Tris and Johanna don't get along really well. They both can be vicious and mean; they're both strong but eh... Tris still has a selfless side. Also, I decided to add the jabberjays. As you can see, they're mimicking Tobias's scream, well not really a scream but something like that. We'll get more to that in the next chapter (which I haven't even started but will as soon as I update this! Who knows? Maybe we'll get the next chapter here later this afternoon:D). So, in the last chapter, I told all of you that I have good news for all of you... Well, here it is. I'm wrapping up this story already and I know that some of you guys will be sad about it but there's actually no reason to. Since you guys are enjoying this and are helping make this popular, there'll officially be a sequel to this story!:D I don't know if I'll start it right off the bat when I finish this one but I'll try my best! I have the title and the cover already but the title will not be revealed until the final chapter of this story:D The cover will, obviously, be revealed when I publish it! Thank you all and I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please leave a review and tell me what you think:)**

_**krikanalo: **_**Thank you! I really liked the quote too! And I hope you liked this chapter even better:D**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** Thank you so much! And yay! You're not mad because I dislike Gale. Many people like him, some even LOVE him, like one of my friends loves him and would probably stab me if I told her that I don't like him. XD And I hope you liked this chapter and hope you LOVED the good news:D **

_**snowstorm14:**_** I just saw your review and I have to say thank you! We got more of Johanna in this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it very much! Once again, thank you so much!:)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Katniss

Jabberjays.

Tris has lost it—she's gotten away from us, running towards the voice that seems like it's being tortured. The voice belongs to a guy named Tobias Eaton. Tris said that he's her boyfriend or something like that. I don't consider myself having a boyfriend… more like a husband. I don't know.

"Tris!" I follow her and drop the items that Finnick has given me. "Tris!" I continuously follow her, but it's no use. She won't listen.

"Tris!" I finally catch up to her, "Tobias is not here! They're jabberjays—what you're hearing is jabberjays—"

I can't finish my sentence when all of the sudden, I hear another and different scream. It's a high-pitched scream, a scream that sounds exactly like my little sister's.

"Prim!" I wildly begin running after the voice. "Prim!"

I know she's not here, but she's out there. Jabberjays mimic you, and they're mimicking Prim. _What are they doing with her? Where is she?_ _They _are probably hurting her or worse…

"Prim!" I again call out before I hear another scream that sounds like Gale's. _It is._

I run towards the scream, hearing it in pain. They're hurting him! They're hurting both Prim and Gale, probably at the same time! I feel like dropping my weapons, my attire—anything to help me run faster but I can't. I can't because they're not _here_. The Capitol's torturing them, hurting them, probably for some kind of answers but there's nothing to answer. There's nothing to question. Whatever I do—whatever actions I do—comes back to all of them. They're torturing me. They're torturing all of us.

"Katniss!" I look over my shoulder and see that Tris is running up to me. I don't keep running but wait for her. "Katniss! Don't run; stay with us. That's not your sister or your best friend. They're those birds, like you said. It's not them and it's not my… Tobias."

I don't know what to say or do but feel pity, not only on her, but me as well. I left Prim behind, I left Gale behind, I left my mother behind; I left everyone behind and I have no way of returning home, except when they return my corpse. I start to wonder if they did let Tris, Uriah, and they say goodbye to their loved ones. I couldn't even blink an eye whenever we were being rushed into the Justice Building.

I stop and stare into Tris's eyes—they remind me of Peeta's. The way they reflect the blue sky but this blue is different.

"Help!" I suddenly hear a familiar voice. It's not Prim. It's not Gale. It's not Tobias. It's none of the jabberjays. It's Annie.

"Help!" she cries.

Tris and I don't say anything before we rush towards the sound of the helpless voice. It sounds like she's in pain, like she's hurting even more than she regularly does. But it also sounds like she's dying.

"Where is she?" Finnick is yelling whenever we meet him.

"It sounds like she's over there!" I point to my left.

He doesn't say anything else but follows us. I push many vines and leaves out of the way, hearing Annie's voice getting louder and louder in each step we take. Her shrieks sound worse and worse as well.

I position my sword and as we take another step, we see Annie tied to the lightning tree, the tree in which the lightning strikes at every hour of twelve o'clock.

"Annie!" Finnick yells and takes a step closer before Tanya and Enobaria jump in front of Annie from behind the tree.

"Don't even try to make another move," says Tanya.

"Any of you make another move," Enobaria says, "And I'll slit her throat."

That's when Finnick quickly stops. That's when Tris freezes. That's when I don't know what to do. I don't really know Annie—as a matter of fact, I don't think I know anything about her, except that she loves Finnick, and is the poor, mad girl from District 4.

"Drop your weapons," Tanya points her sword at Finnick, her knife at Tris, and Enobaria points both of her knives at me.

_I don't have any arrows. _

I turn and see Finnick dropping everything he has. Tris only drops her two knives but hides her gun behind her feet. I don't know what to do.

_I can kill one of them right now, _I think. _I can sacrifice myself for this poor girl._

Even though this whole thing I'm doing is to protect Peeta, I have to do this for Annie. I have to. I don't care if she wouldn't do that for me, but then again, I don't blame her. The Capitol and everybody else are probably getting their eyes attached to this even more. President Snow is probably on the edge of his seat for this. I know that he's waiting for me to die. He's waiting for all of us to die, but he wants me to die definitely. I am the reason for this rebellion.

_Where's Peeta? Where's Uriah? Where's Beetee? Where's Johanna?_ Has she killed them both? Has she betrayed us? Do Tris, Finnick, and Annie know about it?

I bite my lip and as I lift my sword up, begin to run towards them, an ax blade stiches to Enobaria's shoulder. Tris and Finnick pick up their knives and Tris quickly gets her gun first to fire a bullet, hitting a small portion of Tanya's arm. Both of them scream but take off, just in time for us to untie Annie and reunite with the rest of the group.

The eight of us are counted and present, but we don't split up this time. We didn't have time to kill either Enobaria or Tanya—they're too fast.

We begin to run to another section of the jungle that's not too far from where we were, but it's no use. I keep hearing the screams of Madge, my mother, Vick, Rory, and even Posy… poor little, helpless Posy.

We fall onto the ground and luckily, I land on my back whereas Finnick and Uriah have fallen face-first; blood flows down from their noses. I cover my ears and feel someone enclosing me into their arms. Peeta. He holds me and tightens me, so I won't move. It's helping. I'm feeling a little better but I keep hearing many, many more shrieks from whom I don't even know.

"They were hurting them," I tell Peeta quietly after the jabberjays are gone.

"No they weren't," he says, "They probably just recorded their voices from other days. Katniss, Prim is not dead."

I want to believe him but at the same time, I can't. It was clearly Prim, Gale, and the others. They are probably dead. I don't want to think like that though; I just am.

"They can't kill your little sister," Johanna says, "Everyone in the Capitol adores her," she stitches her ax to the ground and leans on her back. "If they kill her, there will be uprisings everywhere in the country. None of us want that, right?"

My jaw drops to the ground. She can't say that in _here_—they're probably editing our dialogue out.

"Why are the districts uprising against the Capitol anyway?" Tris ask and that's when I just want to cover everyone's mouth.

"Don't you know?" says Johanna. "Katniss pulled out nightlock berries last year."

"Oh yeah, me and Uriah's mentor told us about that. I forgot for like a second."

I bite my lip and look down at the ground. We're near the beach, which is good. I can go take a quick swim or something, so I won't be part of this conversation. We really can't be discussing this, especially when the whole world is watching us.

"They're not dead," Peeta says when I exchange glances with him.

I roll my eyes and quickly go to the beach to take a quick swim, letting the saltwater wash me in. It feels good today; for some reason, it's not cold or hot. It's in the middle; perfect.

As soon as nighttime hits the arena, the anthem begins to play. Nine tributes are shown in the sky tonight and they consist of: Chaff, Seeder, Blight, Gloss, Axton, Brutus, Brayde, Cashmere, and Daryn. Technically, all of the Careers are dead, except for Enobaria and Tanya.

Everyone volunteers to stay up and guard but only Finnick and I stay awake.

"Go to sleep," he says, "It's my turn to watch."

"I'm surprised you're not with Annie," I say and that's when I'm mistaken. Annie is asleep right next to him as he points at her.

"Oh," I say.

"He smiles and I quickly crawl over next to Peeta. He was one of the first ones who fell asleep, along with Annie and Beetee. Tris, Johanna, and Uriah barely fell asleep a few minutes ago, leaving Finnick and I up. But I will soon fall asleep and trust Finnick to guard all of us. I'm not saying he can be untrusted, but anyone here can be the enemy. I have to remember who the real one is. Haymitch's words keep replaying in my head, and they won't let me sleep. So instead, I think of a world with no Hunger Games. _How would it be? How different would it be from all of this?_

There have been over a thousand children dead over the past years because of this. That's one of the reason why I want no kids, but at the same time, would I want a kid if there weren't any Hunger Games? Without any Hunger Games, every child would be safe. The world that I'm thinking of… everyone would be safe.

In that world, that's the world where Peeta's child would be safe.

* * *

**NOTES: Aloha my little monkeys! Guys, I'm like terribly sorry that I haven't updated since last week. I recently started a new story, ****_Uncovering Love_****, and I've been having writer's block on this story. But don't worry, the updated chapter is finally here! Again, I'm truly and extremely sorry that I've been leaving you guys behind. I promise I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter updated. It's just that one night, I was thinking and all of the sudden, that story, ****_Uncovering Love_****, popped into my mind and I couldn't just let it go. If you guys can, please go check that one out:) however, it's NOTHING like this one. That one is a modern day story and it's not full or action or anything like that. It's mostly drama, romance, and a little bit of adventure...? I guess, but it has to do with Finnick and Annie. So if you guys adore them, and adore love stories, please check that one out and tell me what you think:) Anyway, this chapter has the jabberjays and I had to go back and re-read that chapter from ****_Catching Fire. _****The Annie scene was one that I had in mind a long time ago; however, I didn't intend to use Tanya or Enobaria to threaten Katniss, Tris, and Finnick. But they're both vicious, obviously. Also, I estimated today, and there are three chapters left in this story. Remember, the title of the sequel to this story will be revealed in the last chapter of this story, so keep that in mind! So I want to say, thank you all so much! And please leave a review:) I know this chapter wasn't the best but I tried... Writing two stories at the same time is kind of complicated... So please don't blame me or judge me. Again, I'm terribly sorry that I took FOREVER to update and I promise that won't happen again! Thanks, again! And don't forget to review:)**

_**Raina4Ever: **_**Haven't talked to you in like forever! Here's chapter 28, finally!:D Sorry I took FOREVER to update; I started that new story I mentioned and yeah... it's been taking time away from me, but I finally got my things together and wrote this chapter. Remember, title will be revealed in the final chapter;) Thank you so much! And I'm glad you like the good news and this story! Hope you liked this chapter, and again, thank you!:)**

_**Juliet's Shadow: **_**Haha, you are a VIP;) I hope I'm a VIP for your stories, since I know spoilers;) XD Anyway, well, here's the next chapter for this story!:D I hope you liked it and again, haven't texted you back since I was writing the fourth chapter for ****_Uncovering Love _****and I was finishing this chapter up. Thank you so much for everything!:)**

_**krikanalo: **_**Sorry I took forever to update, but here's the next chapter! I hope you liked it and thank you so much! I'm also glad you enjoyed the last chapters:)**

**_Guest: _****You're from Texas?! Hey, we can be buddies!:D Just kidding, but yeah, I live by Odessa and my friend told me about Odesta. I thought it was pretty cool. XD I'm really sorry I took forever to update and hope you liked this chapter:D Oh and since you love Finnick and Annie, if you have the time, please check out my new story, ****_Uncovering Love._**** It is a love story between them and I hope you'll like it if you read it. You don't have to though, but I'd appreciate it. Thank you so much! And please review again:)**

**_Helen: _****Yeah! XD Plot-twist! Alert! Alert! Plot-twist! Yeah, I didn't want to get Four reaped because I felt it would be corny and predictable if I did, so I chose Uriah and many people didn't expect that:D So I hope you're enjoying this and thank you for reviewing! Hope to hear from you again!:D**

**_fourtristribute:_**** Chapter 28 is here!:D Sorry I took so long to update but I hope you enjoyed this:) Also, thank you for reviewing and I can't wait to hear from you again!:D I'm glad you're enjoying this!:D**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Tris

"Hello, Beatrice," says Jeanine as she enters the room.

I don't even want to look at her—I don't want to talk to her; I don't want anything to do with her. My hands stretch out, as if their stretching and preparing to hit Jeanine, but I can't do that. I really can't.

The room that I'm in is brightly lit up. The walls are white; the floor is white and so shiny that I can see our reflections in it. The ceiling is white, but that's because the lights are the ceiling. The room is also small and probably only has a capacity of six or eight people.

"You're the reason for all of this," she says; I don't know what she's talking about.

"What?" I say.

"You're aptitude test results were inconclusive," she responds, "Divergence is all of you."

I don't know what to say but nod. She gathers a few sheets of paper before she puts in a code and the door opens. As she steps out, that's when I see her pulling out a gun, and then she turns to look at me.

"The Divergent are to be executed." That's when she pulls the trigger and a bullet hits me, faster than the speed of light.

When I wake up, I feel Uriah shaking me—I guess to wake me up. _It worked._

"You alright?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say and rub my eyes, "Why do you ask?"

"You were shaking a lot—I thought you were having like a seizure or something," he says.

I don't say anything but notice that Katniss is smiling; I don't know why. She positions herself into Peeta's arms and that's when I know that something's odd. She's never like that. I start thinking of many things now: Tobias, my dream, Katniss, Peeta; basically everything. But what I notice is that I'll probably be dead in a day, Uriah might be dead in a day as well—the whole alliance is probably in favor of being dead in a day. By the rate of deaths so far, I calculate that it's a day. Maybe Tanya or Enobaria might be crowned the winner of the Quarter Quell. But it can't be them.

My expression suddenly changes when I see that Katniss and Peeta have gone to the beach. I look at Johanna and she gives them a bizarre expression before she takes another nap. Uriah and I exchange glances when we decide to follow them. They're both in the water talking, but all I can hear are their whispers.

"Katniss," I mutter and I know they hear me, judging by the way they just turned to our direction.

Uriah and I begin swimming towards their way and that's when I know that they're having a serious discussion.

"—we have to break off," that's the only thing I hear Katniss say when we reach them.

"Tell you what," Peeta says, "We'll break off whenever both Tanya and Enobaria are dead, okay?"

Break off? Break off from what? Us? I bite my lip to keep myself from saying anything else but I fail when I open my mouth and say, "You guys are going to break off?"

They both exchange glances.

"Tris," Katniss says in a serious tone, "We have to break away from the alliance."

"Why?" Uriah questions before I can respond.

"Look, we're down to ten and there are only two Careers left, well one, but Tanya's with Enobaria, and once they're both dead, who knows? Johanna, Finnick, or maybe even Annie will try to kill us," says Katniss. She suddenly has a point. Besides, I don't trust Johanna.

"I think we should break off as soon as both Enobaria and Tanya are dead," Peeta repeats himself.

"It's better," says Katniss.

"You guys in?" Peeta asks, turning to Uriah and me.

"Yeah," I say and look at Uriah, who nods.

After a moment of silence, Katniss decided to call Finnick and Annie. They don't take long but quickly dive into the water, especially Annie. It's like she belongs in the water—she probably does.

"Hey Finnick," Katniss says, "We figured out how to make you pretty again."

The three of us polish all the scabs from our bodies, helping with the others' backs, and come out the same pink as the sky. We apply another round of medicine because the skin seems too elusive for the sunlight, but it doesn't look half as bad on smooth skin and will be good camouflage in the jungle.

Beetee calls us over afterwards and when we walk over to him, he tells us that he has a plan, but first begins to talk about Tanya and Enobaria. "Listen, I have a plan to kill both of them. You guys just have to follow it. I doubt they'll come near us anyway; they're so outnumbered."

"You think they know about the clock?" I ask because I'm extremely curious.

"If they haven't, they'll figure it out soon enough. Perhaps not as specifically as we have. But they must know that at least some of the zones are wired for attacks and that they're reoccurring in a circular fashion. Also, the fact that our last fight was cut off by Gamemaker intervention will not have gone unnoticed by them. We know it was an attempt to disorient us, but they must be asking themselves why it was done, and this, too, may lead them to the realization that the arena's a clock," says Beetee. "So I think our best bet will be setting our own trap."

"Let me wake Johanna then," says Finnick. "She'll be dead if she missed something this important."

"Or not," I mutter, knowing that everyone probably still heard me, but I don't care.

When she joins us, Beetee tells us to step away from him, so he'll have space to draw something on the sand in the beach. I see that he draws a circle with twelve sections—the arena. It's not as well-drawn as Peeta's but Beetee is intelligent—the smartest out of the rest of us and he knows what he's doing.

"If you guys were Enobaria and Tanya, where would you guys feel the safest here in the jungle?" Beetee asks.

"Right here," says Peeta, "Here in the beach."

"Right," Beetee says. "So why aren't they here right now?"

"We're here," me and Johanna say it at the exact same time. We exchange glances but quickly turn away, so there won't be any more small problems.

"Exactly," Beetee agrees, "So where would you guys go instead?"

I stare at the pink sky for a moment. I think of Beetee's wire, his coal of wire. I think of Wiress and how she was humming that song. I even think of my parents and wonder if they were here with me, in the arena. I know they'd sacrifice themselves for me—they did do it during the simulation, but this is different. What if this is a simulation?

I snap out of it when Finnick says, "I'd hide at the edge of the jungle. In case other tributes pass by, they won't see me. And also to spy on us."

"Don't forget to eat," Uriah adds.

Beetee smiles and I know that we've exceeded his expectations. "Yes, good. You do see. Now here's what I propose: a twelve o'clock strike. What happens exactly at noon and at midnight?"

"The lightning bolt hits the tree," says Katniss.

"Exactly, what I'm trying to say is, whenever the lightning bolt strikes the tree, at midnight, I'll run my wire from that tree and into the saltwater. Not all of it will be in the water; it will also cover parts of the ten o'clock section of the jungle and anyone who is nearby, will be electrocuted," says Beetee.

There's a long pause after he explains. Will his plan even work? I know it can but at the same time, it seems impossible! I know that Beetee is a bright man, but I think this is too much. I have my hopes and doubts; however, I'm trying my hardest to get my hopes higher.

"Beetee," Uriah suddenly speaks, "Won't that burn your wire?"

"There's no doubt about that," Beetee says, "But not until the current has passed through it. It will act something like a fuse, in fact. Except the electricity will travel along it."

"How do you know?" questions Johanna, clearly unconvinced.

"I invented it," says Beetee.

We don't say anything but nod, except for Annie. She has a blank stare and looks too stiff to say or do anything.

"Guys, this thing will do as I say," Beetee adds.

"But wait," Peeta interrupts, "If it doesn't work, won't that burn up all the food? All the seafood?"

"Definitely," Beetee says, "But that means that we can gather up some food before we take action. And also, if we lose the food source, Tanya and Enobaria will lose it as well."

"I see," says Uriah.

I'm convinced. When I exchange quick glances with Uriah, I stare into his dark eyes. I suddenly remember all those nightmares that included him. I barely noticed that I've trusted him this whole way—not that we've been here for long. But I thought I couldn't; I thought he couldn't be trusted. But then again, no one can be trusted here, not even Katniss or Peeta. Not even Annie.

Beetee wants to inspect the lightning tree before he has to rig it. Judging by the sun, it's about nine in the morning. We have to leave our beach soon anyway. So we break camp, walk over to the beach that borders the lightning section, and head into the jungle. Beetee's still too weak to hike up the slope on his own, so Finnick, Peeta, and Uriah take turns carrying him. We let Johanna lead because it's a pretty straight shot up to the tree, and I figure she can't get us too lost. Besides, I can do a lot more damage with my gun than she can with two axes, so I'm the best one to bring up the rear—Katniss and I are: Katniss has her arrows and I have my knives and gun.

As we near the tree, Finnick suddenly says, "Katniss can hear where the force field is,"

Hear? I thought you couldn't. I thought you couldn't even see it—the one in the training center is invisible but this one only seems to mirror the arena. Perhaps the real world is on the other side of it.

"Hear?" questions Beetee.

"Only the ear that the Capitol constructed," Katniss says, "I know where it is."

For that, we let Katniss take the lead.

"Remember," Beetee says, "Force fields are nothing to play with."

Katniss told me that her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, won the fiftieth Quarter Quell. She told me that he used the force field as a weapon to execute the last tribute remaining. Apparently, the tribute threw an ax towards him—she didn't know that he was right in front of the force field, and had no idea about it—and the ax bounced back and finished her instead. Katniss said that she saw it with her own eyes when she replayed it during her way to the Capitol with Peeta.

But Beetee's words make sense: _force fields are nothing to play with._

The lightning tree's unmistakable as it towers so high above the others. I find a bunch of nuts and decide to take a lot for the rest of the group. Katniss helps me as we both toss them back, but that's when Katniss stops and her face freezes at the direction she's looking at. I take a quick look and that's when I notice it too. The force field. It's about fifteen yards away. My eyes, which are sweeping the greenery before me, catch sight of the rippled square high up and to my right. I throw a nut directly in front of me and hear it sputter in confirmation.

"It's just below the lightning tree," Katniss tells all of us. I keep looking at _it_.

We divide duties. Finnick decides to guard Beetee, and Johanna takes Annie. Peeta, Uriah, Katniss, and I hunt down for more nuts but all we find are rats. When I look at Katniss, she has drawn a line in the dirt a few feet from the force field; I guess to set it as a reminder of where it is.

Beetee is messing with the tree and I have no idea what he's doing. At one point he snaps off a sliver of bark, joins us, and throws it against the force field. It bounces back and lands on the ground, glowing. In a few moments it returns to its original color.

"Hmm," Beetee responds, "That explains much."

I look down at the dirt, chewing on my lower lip, not deciding what to do now but wait for the rest. My luck tears when a sound of clicking hits my ears.

_Insects._

"What's that noise?" Johanna asks and I notice that Annie is covering her ears tight. Her eyes are completely shut, and she looks like she's in pain.

"I'm guessing they're beetles," says Finnick.

"Yeah," I agree with him, "Insects."

The sound swells, as if alerted by our quiet words to the proximity of live flesh. Whatever is making that clicking, I bet it could strip us to the bone in seconds.

"We should get out of here then, the lightning starts in an hour anyway," says Johanna.

We don't move far though—we kind of can't, because if we did, we wouldn't be following Beetee's plan. We arrive to an identical tree near the blood-rain area and decide to stay there for a while. We sit, eating our jungle food, the nuts, and the few pieces of bread we have left that we got earlier from sponsors. We wait for the bolt that signals noon. At Beetee's request, Katniss climbs up into the canopy as the clicking begins to fade out. When the lightning strikes, it's dazzling, even from there, even in this bright sunlight. It completely encompasses the distant tree, making it glow a hot blue-white and causing the surrounding air to crackle with electricity. She swings down and reports her findings to Beetee, who seems satisfied, even if she's not terribly scientific. I don't consider myself scientific either, after all, that's more of an Erudite thing—but I still do fit there…

For the rest of the afternoon, we decide to head to the beach again. Peeta and Uriah convinced all of us that we should eat the remains of the seafood, in case it does burn out. I notice that the cannon never went off once. That means that Tanya and Enobaria are still wandering around this jungle, but I'm not afraid of them. I wouldn't be, even if I was alone. I am Dauntless.

We dive into the water and I let it soak me in; it's warm but not too warm. I don't go too deep though, and I try to look for a few fish where I'm at. I do find plenty for me—after all, I'm small, which does create an advantage. Inside the water is like a different world: the clearness of the water, the bright hues of different kinds of fishes. It's completely different in there.

I sit in between Finnick and Uriah when we finish hunting down the seafood. Finnick, of course, is with Annie. He has his arm around her as she leans her head against his shoulder. She looks exhausted and hasn't even said a word today… at least not to us. I start to wonder if Finnick would be like this if Annie wasn't here. What if she died at the beginning of the Games, or earlier in the Games? How would Finnick be? I don't even want to think about that. However, even though it sounds terrible, I am surprised that Annie is still alive.

"Tris," Uriah taps my shoulder. I tighten my hand around my gun's barrel harder.

"Yeah?" I turn to look at him, his dark eyes.

"You want to know something?" he asks quietly and I suddenly don't.

I nod.

"This whole time, this whole time that we've been here, all I want is for you to get out of here safe and alive… You know that I will sacrifice myself for you. You're one of my best friends, Tris… And I know this may be too much but… I love you."

I feel like… I don't know. I don't know how to react—I can't. Did he just say what I heard? Maybe the insects messed up my hearing and now I'm hearing completely insane things. How do I even respond?

_Uriah loves me…_

"Thanks," I simply say and look down. I shouldn't say that I love him too. But maybe I do… Maybe I love him as well; however, maybe I just love him as a friend. Is that what he means?

_Dammit, Uriah! Damn you!_ I think to myself, _Tobias is watching this… Who knows what he's thinking now._

I feel goose bumps all over my body when suddenly, I feel Uriah touch my cheek for approximately two seconds and takes it off. I take a quick look at him and that's when my hand meets his—we connect.

_We're brave._

* * *

**NOTES: Chapter 29 is here! I finished this chapter last night and I didn't update it earlier today because I went swimming for like, almost literally, the whole day. I just got home an hour ago and my friend ****_Juliet _****told me it was good to update right now. By the way, you guys should totally follow her, and her stories, especially ****_Graceland _****and her new ****_Infinity _****series. You'll love her! Also, in this chapter, Beetee has made a plan to kill Enobaria and Tanya and the rest decide to follow. I would too; I mean, Beetee is a smart man! Anyway, the last scene with Uriah and Tris... they just decided to hold hands because it symbolizes that whatever happens, they stick together. Don't worry "FourTris" fans! Tris and Tobias are still together like a tree rooted on the ground! Other than all of that, only two chapters left in this story... I seriously can't believe it. It feels like it was just yesterday when I barely started this fanfic, and now... we're nearing the end. It's depressing but not too depressing, because remember, the sequel comes after this! So I hope you guys liked this chapter and please leave a review:) thank you!**

_**krikanalo: **_**Thanks!:) and yeah, I agree. Nothing really happened in the last chapter but I hope you enjoyed this one!**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** I'm really relieved that you don't think my update timing is slow. But don't worry, I won't abandon you guys! That would be such an idiotic and foolish move of me! But I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm super glad that you like ****_Uncovering Love_****! It's completely different from this, but thank you so much!:) (P.S. I can't believe it either... And now, two chapters left.)**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** There's the VIP!;) I hope you liked this chapter! And have fun at the beach!:) Thanks:)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Katniss

There are no faces in the sky when the anthem plays tonight. No Tanya and no Enobaria. Of course, and obviously, none of us as well. Ten of us are left—there were thirty-four tributes at the beginning of the Quell, but now, we're down to ten. That must be some sort of record; it's only been a couple of days. I don't think it's been five days, or even four. I'm not sure.

I feel the smooth texture of my jumpsuit on some areas and feel a rough texture on other areas. I'm feeling it to see how strong it is, but I know it's not strong enough. I still remember the fog.

I see a small parachute flying towards us—I didn't know we'd get one at this time, but apparently we do when it lands on Uriah's hands.

"What is it?" asks Finnick—his arm is around Annie.

"It's bread, from Amity," he says.

"Where are you guys from again?" Johanna questions.

"Dauntless," says Tris.

Nobody says anything after that but Uriah cuts the bread into eight pieces; one for each. Beetee doesn't eat one though; he decides to give it to Annie. Annie doesn't even finish half of hers.

"So," Johanna says, after she finishes her piece of bread, "When are we doing the plan?"

By the look of the jungle, it must be close to twelve o'clock already. It's probably already eleven o'clock.

"Right now," says Beetee; he starts to get up. "It's almost twelve o'clock. If it all goes well, Enobaria and Tanya will both be dead tonight."

This is when Beetee reveals the rest of the plan. Since we're fast and small, well Tris and I, he wants Tris, Johanna, and me to run swiftly through the trees and take the coil down through the jungle, unwinding the wire as we sprint. We have to lay it across the twelve o'clock beach and drop the metal stool deep into the water, making sure it sinks. After that, we run back to the jungle. If we go now, it'll be safer.

I have my hopes and doubts. I have my hopes that the plan goes well—that both Tanya and Enobaria will die, which means it'll be down to the eight of us. That means Peeta, Tris, Uriah, and I can break away from the alliance. I just don't trust Finnick and Johanna anymore, especially Johanna. I'm not sure about Annie and Beetee though, mostly Annie. _What if this plan is set up to kill me? What if this plan isn't for Tanya and Enobaria, but it's for Peeta and me?_

I bite my lip as we all get up, starting for the lightning tree. Peeta and I stay close to Tris and Uriah. We have to if we're planning on getting away from the group. The lightning tree isn't far away, luckily. Beetee can't climb up on his own, so Finnick helps him up. I take a close look at Annie and I suddenly feel something. Ever since more and more tributes started to die, she's became more quiet, more dependent on Finnick. And I know why. _After these Games, if she ends up being the victor, she'll be crazier than before._

"Finnick, hand me the wire," Beetee says, reaching for the wire.

I walk over to Annie and she shakes a little as I near her.

"Annie," I whisper to her, "Are you okay?"

She doesn't say anything but looks at the ground, and then at Finnick.

"Annie, there's nothing to be afraid of," I place my hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to be afraid of me."

She still doesn't say anything but keeps shaking. Her arms are folded across her chest.

"Look, I just want to ask you something," I say, "Do you… love Finnick?"

That's when she turns to look at me. I can even see it through the darkness.

"Yes," she mutters; I can barely hear her.

I nod and slowly back away. _That's all I needed to know. I just needed to know if she loves Finnick._ I know that Finnick loves her as well—it's obvious. I look over my shoulder to see her one last time before I look at Peeta. He nods at I don't know what but I nod as well. He takes my hand and that's when Beetee says, "Katniss, I need you to run this down to the water."

He's hands me the coil to make the wire go all the way down to the water and the twelve o'clock section.

"Tris and Johanna, you guys help her out," he adds before the three of us grab a part of the coil.

"What about Peeta and Uriah?" I ask.

"Peeta's too slow to go with you guys," he says, "And Uriah needs to help me and Finnick."

"What about Annie?" questions Tris. _We can't leave Annie here._

"She's too weak right now," says Johanna, "We have to be quick. Hurry."

They're right. Peeta won't run fast with us—his leg is slightly messed up and the attack of the monkeys wounded him a little. Annie won't run as fast as the rest of us, and besides, the only person she trusts is Finnick. I can see it.

We grab on to the coil and begin running towards the water. At first, it's fast and easy—I actually feel like we're going to make it, but then, someone cuts the wire. It's not any of us and, whoever did it is somewhere near; they might get us at any moment. The three of us stand still when I hear something falling—I look up and see the heavy metal stool making a path straight towards me, creating me its target. All I can feel is my head hurting, and hear the metal fall hard on the ground before I do. I see darkness.

As I regain my vision and open my eyes, something stings in my forearm—it's bloody and cut open when I take a quick look at it. My vision sees two forearms and two Johanna's on me, digging through my skin with her ax.

"Stay down!" she hisses before she stands up and quickly takes off.

_Stay down? _It keeps replaying in my head. _"Stay down!" _I can't think straight. I can't move my arm or anything. This plan was setup to kill all of us. Finnick and Johanna were behind this all along. Finnick is probably killing Peeta or Uriah right now. _I was right… Johanna is a traitor. Was she the enemy all along? Was it Finnick?_ I hear footsteps coming my way. Tanya and Enobaria.

"Look!" I see Tanya pointing at me, "She's dead! She's good as dead! C'mon, let's go get the rest!"

They run rapidly past me and that's when it makes sense. _"Stay down!"_ Johanna wasn't trying to kill me. She didn't betray us. She helped me. She removed my tracker. She made me stay down to fool Tanya and Enobaria. But where's Tris? Did Johanna do the same?

_Peeta._

I have to keep him alive—this has been my mission all along. I have to keep him safe. He's with Finnick, Beetee, Uriah, and Annie. But Uriah was with our plan. He couldn't kill Peeta, and Annie sure wouldn't. That leaves it off with Finnick and Beetee. I can't trust Finnick now—there's no one left to trust.

I get up and lean against a tree near me. Blood is flowing down my arm—I feel like I'm going to run out of it anytime soon. I hear noises, like someone's in pain. They're groans and they're near me. I slowly approach the noises and that's when I see Beetee unconscious on the ground.

"Beetee!" I blurt out and drop on my knees, trying to help him but it's no use. It feels like trying to help Wiress when her throat was slit. I slowly let my body drop on the ground and close my eyes for a moment when I hear Peeta.

"Katniss!" he yells.

I can't help him. _I'm sorry, Peeta, _I think. _I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't keep you alive._

"Katniss!" he yells again.

I don't answer.

A few moments later, his yells stop and someone else runs past us. Uriah, Finnick, and Annie.

"Katniss!" Finnick calls out.

"Tris!" Uriah shouts.

Annie doesn't say anything but I can see the worried look on her face. She stands next to Finnick, holding a sword. I haven't seen her carry any weapons, not even the knife Tris gave her. Finnick calls out both mine and Tris's name one last time before the three of them take off. _Are they trying to kill us? Did Uriah tell Finnick about our plan?_

I lay next to Beetee, both of us unable to move, unable to get up. We're as good as dead; I'm as good as dead, like Tanya said. I might die at any moment now… Maybe I'm already dead. Maybe this whole thing is just a vision and I'm heading for the lights already.

There's Johanna, Tanya, and Enobaria on the lightning tree. Maybe if I shoot an arrow at them, Johanna will duck and I'll officially kill the both of them. Or maybe I can just finish the three of them off and let Beetee die next to me. I might as well die here too, leaving Peeta only four tributes to kill off. _There you go, Peeta. I've tried my best to keep you alive. You'll only have four tributes to kill and then you can become the winner of the 75__th__ Hunger Games._

_"Just remember who the enemy is," _Haymitch's words suddenly appear in my mind. _The real enemy. _He told me to notice the real enemy. He told me before the Games started, the night before. It was his last piece of advice before I was sent out here to die. He knows exactly who it is. I know exactly who it is. It's the one who sets this whole thing up, the one who kills off twenty-three tributes each year. I know who the real enemy is. And it's not Tanya or Enobaria.

I open my eyes again and see that Beetee is just lying next to me. He's not dead though, and the cannon hasn't gone off. I look over my shoulder and notice that the force field is right near us. _It's the reason why Beetee is unconscious. _I look at my forearm again when I hear someone groan. _It's not Beetee._

I manage to get up as fast as I can to reach the groans of Tris. She's been right by us the whole time and has her forearm cut open as well.

"You okay?" I plop down.

"Yeah," she nods.

I stare into her blue eyes—I notice that she kind of resembles Prim, besides the short hair. It's like she and Prim are twins or something.

"You understand what just happened, right?" she asks me.

I nod and that's when we both slowly get up and turn to the force field. She drops her two knives but her gun, which she quickly tightens her grip when we turn. I pull the last arrow from my sheath and position it with my bow, targeting the visible square. Tris positions her gun as well and that's when we look at each other one last time. _If we both do it, it'll be double as powerful._

I release my arrow as she pulls the trigger and fires right at the exact same target. The bullet and the arrow, weirdly, fly at the same speed, hitting the target right at the same spot when our bodies are pushed back and I fly, letting gravity pull me fast to the ground. Everything happens too fast and I suddenly can't remember a thing. The noise is busting my eardrum and just as the explosions begin, my whole world brightens up into a flash of a shiny light.

* * *

**NOTES: Well guys, after a few short days of not updating this story, I finally updated! I loved writing this chapter! Also, this is the last chapter before the final one...:( I know, it's kind of sad for me, but don't worry! The sequel is in works!:D In this chapter, in case both of you are wondering, it's similar to Catching Fire, except, Katniss and Tris both blew up the arena. Katniss, obviously, used her arrow and Tris used her gun. So yeah... this story is almost done... Well, I already finished it yesterday but I won't update the final chapter until tomorrow. Remember, I'll also tell you guys the title of the second one tomorrow:D I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review:D**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Uriah and Tris=Plot twist! You're completely right! Hope you're having super-fun at the beach and fishing:D lucky you, you get to eat fish:0 I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you:)**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** Yay:D I'm glad you likes the Uriah and Tris moment. Even though she is Tobias's, I think her and Uriah would be cute... also, I love portraying Finnick and Annie's relationship; it's so much fun! I hope you like this chapter! And hope you love the ending of this story tomorrow:D Can't wait to hear your opinion!:D**

_**krikanalo: **_**Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope you'll like the ending tomorrow:)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Tris

I feel my whole body drop hard on the ground—I can't see or hear anything. Everything is so bright and loud—it's like the sun has reflected a huge glass. All I can see is the trees bursting into flames, the bushes, the branches, the vines; everything is in flames. I'm surprised I'm not in flames, but where are the rest? Over there is Katniss, lying on her back, like me—unable to get up or do anything. Over there is empty but fire. Over there will be here in a matter of seconds; in a matter of seconds, I might die. Katniss might die. Everyone might die.

_So is this it?_ Katniss and I have destroyed the arena and now, there won't be a victor for the Quarter Quell? I close my eyes and continue to stay on my back, letting everything happen within a blink of an eye, but when I open my eyes again, I see a large object getting bigger and bigger. It's darkening everything, the whole arena, the whole clock. All I decide to do is shut my eyes again, and let everything happen. Hopefully, I won't be able to open them again; hopefully, in a matter of minutes, I'll be completely finished.

But my hopes are crushed when I open my eyes once again, and I'm no longer in the arena. I no longer see the trees, the greenery of the jungle, the vines, the lightning tree, the force field; I don't see Katniss lying a few yards away from me, but I do see Tori standing right by me.

"Tori," I say in full disbelief. "Tori, where am I? What happened?"

I can see the gray streaks in her black hair. Her small dark eyes stare right at me, and I can't help it but ask her once again, "What happened?"

"In case you're wondering," she starts, "You're alive. Right now, we're on a hovercraft."

A hovercraft?

I look around as I chew on my lower lip. _Was this the huge object that was landing right on us? _I thought maybe the object that I saw in the arena was another hovercraft to pick up my dead body. I thought I was dead, that I had been killed by the explosions. I thought the explosions killed everybody. But my thoughts were wrong. Obviously.

"Tris," she says, "You don't know why you're here, do you?"

I have absolutely no idea. Wait a minute, did I win the Games? Am I the victor of the 75th Hunger Games? Was I the last tribute standing? Is this what this is?

I shake my head and that's when Tori explains everything. It suddenly makes since, and again, my theory was wrong. I'm not the victor of the Quarter Quell. There wasn't a victor.

This was the plan all along. Beetee's plan to kill Enobaria and Tanya wasn't meant to kill them. It was meant to destroy the arena, but when Tanya and Enobaria cut the wire, the whole plan began to go downhill. Tanya and Enobaria didn't know about this plan; none of us did, except for Beetee, Finnick, Annie, and Johanna. That is one of the reasons why Annie didn't kill anyone, why everyone followed Beetee's plan so quickly without giving it a second thought. Tori goes on saying that the Head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee, has been behind all of this the whole time. As a matter of fact, he set up the plan. He's been against the Capitol this whole time—he knew about the arena being a clock, he knew which tributes were going to die. He knew _everything_.

When Tanya and Enobaria cut the wire, and the metal stool smashed into Katniss's head, Johanna didn't know what to do but cut open her forearm. I thought she was killing Katniss at first, that she had betrayed us, so I tried to kill her. But before she could take the tracker out of Katniss's forearm, she went after me. She quickly pinned me down on the ground—her knees pinning both of my elbows down, and she began cutting through my forearm, removing the tracker. She told me not to move and to stay in the exact same spot before she went on to Katniss and began doing the same. She fled the area before Tanya and Enobaria arrived; both of them thought we were dead already, so they kept going to try to find the rest. Beetee was near us the whole time but I couldn't move; I couldn't help him. I don't even think Katniss and he knew I was near them the whole time. Beetee tried to blow up the arena after the original plan had backfired but the force field almost killed him and he lied unconscious on the ground. Katniss tried helping him but that's when I realized that it was our job to do it now. She realized it too when she found me and walked over to me. That's when we destroyed it. The plan had backfired, but luckily, we were able to fix it.

"Where's Uriah? Where's Katniss? And the rest?" I ask.

"Uriah's fine; he's resting in the other room," she says, "Katniss is on another hovercraft; she's heading to District Thirteen."

I thought there wasn't a District 13—Tori said that the Capitol bombed it after a war called the Dark Days. And now, I finally realize it. The Dark Days were the reason why the factions were formed; the Games were formed, the districts. Everyone in Panem was at war, uprising against the Capitol but when the Capitol defeated the country, they formed thirteen districts and bombed District 13. They also formed the five factions in our section, because they wanted to see how the whole society functioned. If it weren't for people like me, the Divergent, the whole country of Panem would've been brainwashed further in the future. There wouldn't be any Games—the Games are a reminder for the citizens, that because they rebelled against them, every year a male and female are reaped to show that the Capitol is stronger than the rest of them, the rest of us. This year's Quarter Quell was another reminder—not just for the citizens of Panem, and the victors of the previous Hunger Games—but a reminder to us, the five factions.

Like the citizens of Panem, the Divergent and the rest have rebelled against the government. Because our society is supposed to be perfect, and it has been falling apart because of people like me, we were reaped this year. It's a reminder that if we rebel, like the districts, we are to be forced in the Games. Also, since our society isn't functioning like the Capitol hoped it would, there will still be more Hunger Games in the future. Panem will not be brainwashed—but then again, if it was, that wouldn't be good either. Either way, we're all controlled. And pretty soon, in the near future, our factions will seize to exist, and we will have to be part of Panem. We might become another district, perhaps 14 or another 13. I don't know. However, there can still be Divergent all among us—we can't be controlled.

"Where are the rest?" I ask.

"Well in this hovercraft," Tori says, "It's you, Uriah, and Finnick."

_Just us three in this hovercraft_.

"What about in the hovercraft that Katniss is in?" I ask.

"In that one, it's Katniss, Beetee, and Johanna," she says.

That leaves me with another question: _what about Peeta, Annie, Tanya, and Enobaria?_

"Tori," I say; _are they dead?_ "Where are the rest?"

"The Capitol picked up Peeta, Annie, Enobaria, and Tanya."

I bite my lip after she explains. We were all supposed to be rescued by one hovercraft, but after a hovercraft from the Capitol began picking others up, we had to use two hovercrafts in order to rescue us faster. But we didn't succeed, obviously.

"Just get some rest," she moves a part of my hair back, "These Games were different than the others. Just get some rest."

As she leaves, I look at the dim light hitting the room. The hovercraft that we took to the arena, it was different than this one. This one is slightly smaller, but it's designed differently; or maybe I've just gone insane.

I slowly get up and move to the next to room—I don't know who's room it is but I hope it's Uriah's. I need to talk to him and make sure he's alright. Maybe he's in a complete state of shock and can't speak… I just need to make sure he's okay, that he's completely fine. I slowly open the door and realize that I have picked the wrong room. It's Finnick and I'm not sure if I'm picturing my view right, but he's not wearing his jumpsuit, or a shirt, or pants.

"Um…" I slowly get in and shut the door, "Hi, Finnick."

He gives me a seductive smile, and I'm not sure if I should smile back or laugh. He doesn't look hurt or anything.

"How are you?" he asks.

"I guess I'm fine," I say, "You know where the rest are at, right?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

I can't stop looking at him—I haven't seen him this revealing and for some reason, I can't look away. I want to, but I just can't.

"What are you looking at?" he smiles, "Why does this distract you?"

I shake my head. _He doesn't know that Annie has been picked up by the Capitol. He still thinks that all of us are in this hovercraft. Should I break the news to him? _I know that I should tell him, but he seems blissed that we were able to get through the plan. He seems overjoyed that we're all alive, and I don't want to be the one to break it to him. I know I should but I just can't and will not.

I'm just not sure if it's a good or a bad decision.

"Just get some rest," I repeat Tori's words to him and smile a little. "You worked hard to protect us and you deserve some sleep. Just get some rest."

"Ha," he says as I'm about to leave the room, "You wouldn't be saying that if this wasn't distracting. Ha, you're dirty, Tris."

He laughs and I can't help it but laugh as well.

"Whatever, Finnick," I take another look at him, "Just go to sleep."

Before he can say anything else, I shut the door and head to the next room. _If Uriah isn't in this room, I'm probably just going to lose it._ I take in a deep breath before I open the door, and see Uriah lying on the small bed.

"Uriah," I smile, "You're all right."

"You're all right too," he smiles as well. "Come here."

He holds his arms out and I don't hesitate but quickly rush over and let him pull me in for a hug. His arms squeeze me so hard that I can feel his heartbeat—it's beating fast. I can feel the sweat on his neck against the side of my head, but I don't care. All I care about is that he's fine, that he's alive.

"I'm glad you're okay," he says.

"I'm glad you're okay too," I say as we both release each other.

He has small cuts all over his face. He's sweaty and his lower lip is a little swollen.

"I want you to have this," he says before he pulls out a shiny small knife. "Here, it's yours."

I gently grab it and examine it a little. It looks brand new—it's like nobody has used it. Perhaps he got it from the Cornucopia before the arena exploded. Perhaps he found it or something; I don't know. But I grin a little and thank him for it.

I've never felt like this about him—it's not like that, but I trust him once again. I didn't trust him the whole time in the arena, I mean, when he found me and dragged me to another section of the jungle, I thought he was going to kill me or something. But I know that I can trust him now; I know that I can trust my best friend once again.

"I love you," I quietly tell him.

He smiles a little and looks down before he finishes it saying, "I love you, too."

We don't say anything after that but just as I'm about to leave, he leans in and I feel his lips kiss my cheek. They're chapped and cracked but I still like the feeling of them. They somehow feel smooth to me. We look at each other for a moment and that's when I touch his hand one last time before I leave the room. I never thought that anything like that would ever happen between the two of us. I never thought that I would actually tell Uriah that I love him. But I honestly do; however, not like that. I just love and care for him—the kind that I can trust him and I'll do anything to protect him. I'll even sacrifice myself for him. I know I can do that because if he can do that for me, I can do exactly the same.

My hands feel cold all of the sudden when I walk back into my room. They were warm and everything when I was with Uriah, but they're freezing now. I push my hair back and make my way for the bed again. I don't lie down but stay seated—I don't feel tired all of the sudden. I'm not sleepy and I don't feel weak. But I don't feel too strong either.

The feeling of just getting out of the Games just feels relieving, but strange at the same time. It's a good and bad thing; I just don't care though. At least we made it out alive. I mean, even Annie made it out alive—her luck is just not strong enough as she was picked up by the Capitol. _Why did they pick them up anyway? Are they going to kill them because the Games didn't succeed? Are they going to hurt them?_

I bite my lip to keep myself distracted from all the thoughts I'm thinking. But I bite my lip too hard when the door opens and I see someone familiar walking in. I see his dark eyes, his lower lip bigger than his top. I see him; _he's here_. The guy with four fears is here. The guy who I thought was going in the Games with me is here. _But how'd he get here?_

"Tobias!" I shout and quickly get up for him to wrap me in his arms. "How did you get here?"

"That doesn't matter," he says, "What matters is that I'm here with you."

I blink repeatedly to keep my tears away but I can't help it. _He's here. He's really here and I know it's not just a simulation._

"I thought I was never going to see you again," I say as he sits me down on the bed.

He doesn't say anything, but instead, he pulls me towards him again and this time, he kisses me on the mouth. I haven't felt his soft lips in a while—I almost forgot how they felt and tasted.

"Oh Tris," he quietly says against my ear. "I can't believe I'm finally seeing you again."

I sit on the bed again but he stays standing. He folds his arms across his chest and that's when I know that something isn't right. His expression suddenly changes.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

Something's up—he wouldn't be acting like this if it was nothing. It's like he's trying to tell me something but doesn't want to, or the opposite. I don't know.

"Something's wrong," I tell him, "What is it?"

He shakes his head again.

"Have you seen Christina?" I ask.

"She's fine," he says in a low tone.

"What about Peter?"

"He's fine as well."

_Then if everything is fine, what's wrong with him?_ I stare at him, waiting for an answer. But it takes him a while and I start to get impatient. I need to know. _Did President Snow takeover the factions? Did he decide to combine them and create a whole new district? What is it?_

"Tris," he finally says. He sighs.

Before he can say anything, I close my eyes once again and try to picture everything. I try to remember everything, everything that has gotten me to here. It's everything. He finally begins and I look down. I never expected this or even thought about it. Maybe my latest dream makes sense; maybe that dream was a sign or a hint. Something. I just wasn't thinking straight and still am not. That one person he's talking about isn't dead. That one person didn't die. I hallucinated or something, I don't know, but all I want to do now is bury my face into my hands and scream. I want to shriek so loud until my voice gives out. Maybe if I do scream loud, this hovercraft won't be able to take it and it'll crash into something. This is all wrong; this doesn't make any sense. This means that, that person is still among us. That person will probably kill us if President Snow doesn't. That person is exactly who I saw getting stabbed in the stomach by Tori. That person is…

_Jeanine_ _Matthews_.

**END OF STORY ONE**

* * *

**NOTES: Well guys... we have finally reached the end... I can't believe I started this in mid-June, and it's already August! I pretty much wrote this story, almost the whole summer. But it was such an exciting adventure! I'm pleasured that you guys loved it-even though there were about three negative reviews, I learned from them. (I learned not to use the word "y'all" in these kinds of stories. I am from Texas so I do use a lot, ha-ha) but I'm just shocked that I finally finished this story; it feels like it was just yesterday when I barely started writing it. I had some great fans, some very nice and awesome fans! I don't consider myself a good write but you guys make me feel like I am! And maybe I am but that's up to you guys to decide;) So... I'm making it seem like this story-universe is completely over XD But it's not! I've started on the second one already! And I know some of you have been eagerly waiting to see what the title is, and I told you guys that I would reveal it in this chapter:D But before I do that, I just want to review this chapter;D So, there were three hovercrafts: one that's heading to District 13, one that's heading to Chicago, and one that's heading to the Capitol. I know some of you are super angry at me right now and I know why... Because I ended this story in a freaking huge cliffhanger! XD Yes, Jeanine is, indeed, still alive (not in the official ****_Divergent _****books) but in this one yes. I know some of you will ask how she's alive, but that will be revealed in the second book;) I had this conspiracy about Jeanine since the start of the book. And yeah... (Oh and, in case any of you are wondering about the firebombing of District 12, yes, it indeed was in this story as well. I just didn't do a chapter of Katniss in the hovercraft for this story, because there already is in ****_Catching Fire_****. We've already read that story XD) I also decided to have Finnick in the same hovercraft as Tris; I want to develop more chemistry between him, Tris, Tobias, and Uriah. Also, I don't know if any of you noticed, but many, many, many, many of the Divergent characters weren't even a big part of this story. Tobias was important but he was like Gale, and also, some of the Divergent characters didn't even show up at all! But in the second story, everyone will be included, and I'm sad to say that some of them will even die... So that's enough info about the second story, and enough info of this chapter-now on to the title!:D You guys know the reason why this story is called ****_Covergent_****, right? (Well, if you don't know, it's named that because the characters from THG and Divergent come together in this story, they converge together) and in the second one, the title of the book is... *drumroll* XD... ****_Emergent_****! I know it's obvious but you'll have to find out why it's called that. XD It is during the events of ****_Mockingjay_**** but it won't be the same storyline. So yeah... I was thinking of publishing it today, but I thought about it and decided to publish it later on (well, if you guys want to read it already, just say so and I'll post it tomorrow!)**

**I know this is way too long of an Author's note, and it's probably the longest I've written for this story! But since this is the last chapter for this, it's long! So thank you all for reading this! I hope this was a good ending for this story, which I really love, and I hope you guys are looking forward for ****_Emergent_****. Please follow that one as well; I'll be pretty bummed if I don't see any of you guys in the next one. But you guys don't have to, but I'd highly appreciate it if y'all did!:) Please review (and I'm almost to 100 reviews! Thank y'all for that!) and I will respond to you guys' reviews on the first chapter of ****_Emergent_****. So, thanks to all of you again, and hope to see all of you back on the next one:) Bye for now...**

_**krikanalo:**_** Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story as a whole. I hope you liked the cliffhanging ending! Hope to see you in ****_Emergent_****!**

_**Juliet's Shadow:**_** Good afternoon, VIP!;) you must feel pretty special for knowing what the title of the second one was all along;) I hope you liked the ending (I know you hate cliffhangers) but I hope it has you wanting and waiting for ****_Emergent_****!:D Thank you so much for reading this and hope to see your feedback in the second one:)**

_**Raina4Ever:**_** We have finally reached the end... But no worries, you finally got the title for the second one:D:D Thank you so, so, so much for reading this story! I hope it was a thrill for you, and an exciting adventure:D I hope you loved the ending, which of course was a cliffhanger, and I hope you follow and read ****_Emergent_****! You're one of my favorites, and I'm really happy that I'm one of your favorite authors:) But, thank you so much, again, for reading this story:) **


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